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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 



XXth CENTURY SHAKESPEARE 



MACBETH 



By WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 



Edited with an Introduction and Notes 



BY CYRUS LAURON HOOPER 

Of the North-West Division High School 
Chicago 






Chicago 

AINSWORTH &> COMPANY 

1902 



.An hi l 



THK LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS 

Two Copies Received 

W 1902 

COPYRIGHT ENTRY 

V ASS O^XXq No 

a a * / 3 

copy g 



Copyright, 1902 
By Ainsworth & Company 



NOTE. 



This edition of " Macbeth " is the third of the XXth Century 
Shakespeare series ; the plan and the purpose are set forth in " Julius 
Caesar," the first to appear. 

The text is that of the Clarendon Press edition. 

In the preparation of notes, the editor acknowledges obligations 
to Furness, Rolfe, and Clark and Wright (editors of the Clarendon 
Press series). In the preparation of the introduction, valuable help 
was obtained from Rolfe's " Shakespeare the Boy," Guerber's " Myths 
of Northern Lands," and Fiske's " Myths and Myth-Makers." 



INTRODUCTION, 



Many things have happened fortunately for the world — things 
which the same world takes as a matter of course, unworthy of 
comment One of these is that Shakespeare was born in an age 
when the impress of the myths of the ancient world was not 
wholly effaced from the plastic minds of men. Those ancient 
people, knowing little, imagined much, ever with the intent of 
explaining the nature and causes of phenomena ; and they be- 
queathed to their descendants a brood of superstitions that made 
the night a season of terror, so full was it of malign beings who 
lay in wait to snare unhappy mortals. Let but a dog howl beneath 
the window, and a gloom would settle over the features of those 
who sat in the firelight ; they would look into one another's faces, 
their imaginations peopling the air about the doomed house with 
the dark powers of the unseen world, for they believed that the 
howl was a sure sign that one of the family circle would soon be 
called to wander forth alone into the undiscovered land of Death ; 
and with silent fear they wondered, Which? As late as 1584, 
Reginald Scot, in his Discoverie of Witchcraft, found it neces- 
sary to combat the superstitions of his time, so firmly grounded in 
the popular mind was their influence ; and not only in the popular 
mind, but even in that of scholars ; for James I. condemned the 
book and ordered it burned by the hangman. Even the clergymen, 
so tenacious a grip had the pagan world upon them, attacked Scot 
for his disbelief in magic and witchcraft. Doubtless, Shakespeare, 
when a boy, knew no better than his king and the divines : we can 
fancy him, when returning at night from some expedition afield, 
slipping along stealthily by the hedges, or shooting past the dark 
corners and alleys of Stratford, clutching his amulets and mut- 
tering charms, lest a loud footfall might awaken the anger of some 
warlock, or bring upon him the blighting glance of a witch's evil 

v 



vi INTRODUCTION. 

eye. Had he not felt these fears he could not have written " Mac- 
beth," the tragedy of that dark age when the powers of darkness 
lay heavily upon the minds of men. 

The master judge of human hearts realized how deep these 
beliefs were grounded in the popular mind, and appealed so 
strongly to them that we, too, of this later age, are made believers 
as we read. We cannot criticise the great drama as Carlyle crit- 
icised " Tarn O'Shanter," saying it was only a brilliant piece of 
rhetoric, utterly failing to carry the reader back to the time when 
warlocks and witches were believed in ; we do not pause over the 
prophecies of the weird women, or even over the apparitions that 
arise from their flaming cauldron, and say, " This cannot be ; " we 
read and believe ; are impressed scarcely less than Shakespeare ; 
scarcely less than Macbeth ; and not until we lay down the book, 
or see the curtain fall, do we realize that we are prosaic moderns, 
bereft of the tingle of the supernatural. 

The English are a northern race : they formerly held strange 
beliefs concerning the powers that made the world — beliefs an- 
ciently born in Germany and about the fiords of Scandinavia. 
Wodensday, Wednesday, the day of Odin, is our reminder of the 
greatest of these ancient gods, about whom centers a cycle of giant 
myths. Seated in his dragon throne-chair, with two ravens, Hugin, 
thought, and Munin, memory, on his shoulders, he listens to their 
tales of what they have seen and heard in their daily flight through 
the world. At his feet lie two hounds, or wolves, who accompany 
him when he goes to wander over the earth. The ancient peoples, 
when they heard the wind roaring through countless leagues of 
forest on the mountain sides, listened breathlessly, for this to them 
was Odin on his Wild Hunt, riding his eight-footed horse, Sleipnir, 
by whom coursed the baying hounds. It is difficult for us to fancy 
the awe inspired by the coming of this god — the wide-open eyes, 
the muffled heart-beats, the long-held breaths : but to those ancient 
pagans, the occasion was one of terror ; for Odin was the god who 
carried away the souls of the dead ; the baying of his hounds was 
a sure sign of death, as the howling of a dog was in Shakespeare's 
time, and is to-day among the superstitious. To this Wild Hunt, 
too, we owe the oldest of northern riddles : " Who are the two 
who ride to the Thing? Three eyes have they together, ten feet, 
and one tail ; and thus they travel through the lands." 



THE WEIRD WOMEN. vii 

Of the three eyes, Sleipnir possessed two, and Odin one ; for 
once, wishing to attain knowledge commensurate with his divinity, 
Odin went on a long journey to the abode of Mimir, who lived by 
a spring or well, in whose clear deeps were mirrored all things, even 
the events of the future, and asked for a look into it. But Mimir, 
guarding his treasure jealously, would permit Odin to look only on 
condition that the god would give him one of his eyes. With divine 
courage, Odin plucked out an eye, and with the other looked long 
and deeply into Mimir's fountain. The old writings say he went 
away saddened forever ; for the future had only destruction for all 
things, even for the gods themselves. 

Odin knew the future : but there was a mysterious Three who 
did more than know — the Norns, goddesses of Destiny; the three 
spinners of the web of Fate. Daily they sat under the ever-green, 
world-shadowing ash tree, \ggdrasil, the symbol of Life, where they 
sang a tragic song as they span. Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld, they 
were called : Urd, old and ominous, living in memory of times gone 
by, ever looked backward; Verdandi, young and hopeful, gazed 
ahead; Skuld, veiled and mysterious, holding a rolled scroll in her 
hand, turned her head away from Urd, and dwelt on days to come : 
thus they typified past, present, and future. At times they wove a 
web so great that one sat on a mountain in the far east, and an- 
other retreated into the western sea. Sometimes the shuttle, as it 
shot to and fro, carried a black thread, omen of death. These three 
determined the lives of gods and men ; not from caprice, but rather 
in obedience to a law higher and mightier than themselves, typified 
in Orlog, the god of Fate, whose commands no power could recall. 

These time-rooted beliefs descended to the tribes that crossed the 
German Ocean, displaced the Celts, and dwelt on the Isle of Brit- 
ain ; gradually the ancient significance of gods and Norns was lost. 
The Wild Hunt became Herlathing, from the mythical king, Herla, 
its leader ; the myth of Odin's dogs dwindled into a mere super- 
stition, with little or no connection with the old story ; the Norns 
became the weird women, or witches, whom Holinshed describes as 
meeting Macbeth and Banquo as they journeyed toward Forres — 
" three women in strange and wild apparel, resembling creatures of 
elder world." These beings, having lost their former world-power, 
now worked mischief upon mortal men, winning them with honest 
trifles to betray them in deepest consequence. 



viii INTRODUCTION. 

Such was the history, doubtless, of the weird women whom 
Shakespeare set upon Macbeth to nourish the seed of infamy within 
him. Fancy them meeting him on the blasted heath, a man ripe for 
the cultivation of evil. Would they not rejoice in their demoniac 
way, like a hunter who finds, after long search, some rare bird or 
beast to make a victim for his arrow ? Macbeth offered them an 
unusual opportunity, one worth their while. Of royal blood, already 
cherishing secret designs against the throne, anxious for incite- 
ment, he was a prize to those spirits who lay in wait to snare the 
human soul. The shadow of these wild beliefs of the northland 
lay over the poet, and he could see deep into the deeper shadow 
of Macbeth's darker age, and know the power of the prophecy, " All 
hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter," on the half-savage, 
half-Christianized thane; a power that only a great poet, and he 
living in an age when the ancient beliefs were not yet dead, could 
wholly understand. 

Macbeth, then, had no firm basis of moral conduct. As in the 
Arthurian -legends, where the power of Christ's church contests 
with the power of Merlin's magic, so in Macbeth's time, did Chris- 
tian teaching meet pagan belief. Macbeth had heard the command, 
" Thou shalt not kill ; " but he was willing to forget it, to " jump 
the life to come," when he felt that the weird women's command 
was, Thou shalt kill. What feeble light of morality burned in his 
soul was quickly snuffed out ; no love of the God-given life of the 
king moved him ; he feared no divine displeasure, but only the con- 
sequences upon this earth. The ambition stirred by the prophecy of 
the old pagan divinities held sway for a time over his fear of the 
wrath to come. To this strong motive for crime was added the 
urging of his wife, that ambition-warped nature. He could not 
resist her imputation of vacillation and cowardice ; even his natural 
disinclination to plunge a knife into the flesh of a sleeping, un- 
guarded fellow mortal, could not withstand her fierce encouragement. 
Banquo's nature could have withstood all ; but not Macbeth's. 
Banquo could have withstood because he was Banquo ; Macbeth 
failed because he was Macbeth. Power without was greater than 
resistance within. His course of life was irrevocably fixed by the 
great law of the universe — by Orlog, whose decrees were not to 
be recalled. Having no power to choose, Macbeth stained his 
daggers in the blood of his king. 



THE WEIRD WOMEN. ix 

This hard compulsion of burning desires from within and deceit- 
ful hopes from without, was the burden of much of Shakespeare's 
song. His feeling of man's inability to reach the land of heart's 
desire within the center of life's labyrinth, weighed upon him in 
his creations of Lear, Hamlet, and Macbeth, as it weighed upon 
the old Greek dramatists, as it has weighed upon the great poets 
of all ages. Little matter whether the heart's desire be good or 
evil : an unrelenting influence from without thwarts the will, and 
turns the blind feet where they would not go. 

As in the other plays in which the hero's destiny is not of his 
own choosing, in " Macbeth " there is a conflict between inner and 
outer forces ; the inner, ambition and moral cowardice ; the outer, 
the weird women and a strong-willed wife. 

Macbeth's imagination, doubtless, had long played with visions of 
crown and scepter. The low-born subject has no dreams of royalty ; 
but he who is next the throne is liable to the fiercest desires by day 
and night. It is a cruel Fate that has placed him. by a trivial acci- 
dent of birth, one step below the top. The cup of Tantalus is ever 
before him, with nothing to keep it from him but so frail a thing 
as a human life. This situation was too strong for Macbeth's mo- 
rality ; in an evil moment he broke the enterprise to his wife : from . 
that instant the seed of evil within him had fertile soil and rain 
and sunshine. And with the meeting on the blasted heath, the seed 
sprang into luxuriant life, whose growth Macbeth was powerless 
to stop. 

Yet effort was not lacking, though from an unworthy motive 
that was deep-rooted in his moral cowardice : casting aside thoughts 
of God's vengeance, he found the fear of man's vengeance against 
the taking of the meek king's life too strong an impediment against 
his o'erleaping ambition. This restraining thought was, as he knew, 
too base to confide even to his wife, and he attempted to withdraw 
his resolution on the ground that he would wear his new-won 
golden opinions in their newest gloss. But the keen-witted woman 
knew the fear unspoken, in spite of the lie ; taunted him with a 
cowardly shrinking from what he had determined to do, and shamed 
him back to half-resolution — resolution made complete by a plan 
to throw guilt upon the grooms, and thus escape what he had 
Lared, the vengeance of man. 

Eanquo, we say, who could beseech the merciful powers to 



x INTRODUCTION. 

restrain him from the unwelcome dreams that came to him in 
sleep, whose long course of choosing the right instead of the wrong 
in small matters had given him the power to choose the right in 
matters of great moment, could have resisted ; this, because he 
was not Macbeth : Macbeth yielded because he was the man he 
was — ambitious, and without moral strength. Had he had, before 
his life began, knowledge of the benefit of moral strength, and the 
power to choose it for himself, doubtless he would have chosen it ; 
but he was at birth what he was, and was compelled to fight out 
his destiny with what feeble morality lay within him. In the fight 
he lost ; the instruments of darkness, aided by a woman's taunts 
of cowardice and plans for escape from vengeance, were his de- 
struction. 

A peculiarity of Macbeth's crime was the absence of all attempt 
to excuse his own culpability. He was no common criminal, fanning 
a flame of resentment against a fancied wrong, euphemizing the 
name of his crime to soothe a wounded conscience : with a heroic 
frankness he said, — 

"' False face must hide what the false heart doth know." 

So his deed was a Titan-like stroke at the harmony of Nature ; and 
at once all the powers of Nature began to give the punishment. 

With stealthy steps he returns from the chamber of death, fear- 
ing the sound of his own footfalls ; frightened at the distant cry 
of an owl, and the ominous foreboding of a cricket ; rehearsing his 
tale of murder, of his inability to pray, and of the voice that cried, 
" Sleep no more." Not all the encouragement of Lady Macbeth, 
who can conceal from him, not from herself, her fears of ultimate 
madness, not all her assumption of contempt when she returns from 
smearing the sleeping grooms with blood, saying with blanched face 
and hoarse voice, — 

"My hands are of your color; but I shame 
To wear a heart so white," 

can free him from the punishment which Nature has doomed him 
to, can give him again the " balm of hurt minds " which the murder 
of Duncan has taken from him. There is one restorative alone — 
confession and voluntary atonement. 



THE WEIRD WOMEN. xi 

But these are forever impossible. The royal mind is not given 
to confession ; kings do not of free will lower their proud necks 
to the headsman, Justice ; they give, not seek, atonement. And the 
ambitious Macbeth, thirsting for power, having the weird women's 
promise of it in its fullness, is of all men the last to sink his 
hope of royalty into oblivion for a few days of restored tranquillity 
before an outraged kingdom's stroke of vengeance. The time for 
yielding has gone. The blood of Duncan has provided its own in- 
centive for more blood ; and from this time on, Macbeth needs no 
taunts of cowardice to drive him on ; the fear of evil ahead is 
greater than the dread of the deed that is done. 

If, then, Macbeth was in the grip of the instruments of dark- 
ness before his crime, he was even more so afterward. The logical 
outcome of his deed of blood, was more deeds of blood ; so Banquo's 
gashed body was cast into a ditch in a dark wood, and his wraith 
wandered for a space to shake its gory head at the king, to remind 
him that he could no more eat his meal in peace than he could sleep 
without the nightly affliction of terrible dreams. Macbeth must 
have realized the blind, unrelenting cruelty of Nature in punishing 
him for a deed to which he had been driven by circumstances that 
encompassed him within and without — circumstances that so bound 
him in as to make disentanglement impossible, and further entangle- 
ment inevitable. 

Pursuing his determination to find out by the worst means the 
worst, Macbeth sought the weird women in their cavern, where 
they brewed a new hell-broth, from which arose new hopes and 
fears. Strange that the forces that lead us on to destruction, mingle 
enough promises with their warnings to make us accept them even 
while we curse them, and curse ourselves for dupes. Even so with 
Macbeth. 

"Infected be the air zvherecn they ride; 
And damn'd all those that trust them." 

It is plain that the guilty king, at this point, felt the fatal hour 
impending. Banquo's words about the instruments of darkness that 
win us with honest trifles to betray us in deepest consequence, must 
have burned in his mind. Yet with a desperation born of the con- 
sciousness that turning back was forever impossible, he resolved 



xii INTRODUCTION 

that the firstlings of his heart should bt; the firstlings of his hand, 
and gave to the sword the unfortunate souls that Macduff held 
dearest. Here was a battle with Fate indeed, and with the cer- 
tainty of defeat. But it is the nature of men in the grasp of destiny 
to keep up the fight, hoping that to them will come the victory never 
won by mortal. The greatest dramas of the world reveal the sad- 
ness of this hopeless struggle. 

The final result can be but little longer delayed. Lady Macbeth, 
fallen into the madness she foresaw when Macbeth told her of the 
voice that cried, " Sleep no more," wanders from her bed, rubbing 
her hands and moaning, " Yet here's a spflt." Her worn body 
yields to exhaustion, but her mind, that can yield its activity only 
to death, lives in the fatal night when she made her hands the color 
of Macbeth's. " Yet who would have thought the old man to have 
had so much blood in him?" The troubled life burns on a few 
more days, flickers, and we hear Seyton, with low voice and bowed 
head, say, " The queen, my lord, is dead." 

A moment's time to curse yesterdays and to-morrows, and Mac- 
beth is brought face to face with the equivocation of the fiends that 
lie like truth. Birnam wood comes to Dunsinane : Macduff was 
not born of woman. In the end there is but a moment of yield- 
ing : the challenge to Fate is fought to the uttermost. The weird 
women have entrapped a human being into permitting the develop- 
ment of the worst that lay within him. The moral forces of Nature 
have inflicted the punishment. The great dramatist has shown us 
the vital moments in this Titanic experience. 

A Titanic experience, truly ; fit only for Titans. These two peo- 
ple, Macbeth and his lady, did a deed of transcendent wickedness ; 
and unlike the common run of men, who dabble feebly and fearfully 
in sin, and shift the blame upon others, they laid the responsibility 
upon their own hearts. Though driven by the powers of the evil 
world, and spurred on by his wife, Macbeth cursed no one but 
himself for yielding to the weird incitement; and had no word of 
reproach for her who in her ambition for him had led him to 
scorn Fate, and even to defy the life to come. And Lady Macbeth ! 
After the giant effort of will that led to the death of Duncan had 
passed, and her woman's nature had asserted itself, she uttered no 



THE WEIRD WOMEN. xiii 

word of blame, but kept in silent concealment within her the fear 
of the worm that dieth not and the fire that is not quenched. 

In the witch's kitchen, Mephistopheles explains the strange incan- 
tations to the disgusted Faust by saying that the witch must play 
off some hocus-pocus that the brew she makes may work well on 
him. So Shakespeare, that the people of his day might understand, 
gave to the weird women, at times, the character of common witches 
— consorts of paddock and graymalkin, posters of the blasted heath, 
brewers of hell-broth. But essentially they were the goddesses of 
Destiny, that harm the soul rather than the body — the dread Norns 
that sat under the great ash tree, Yggdrasil, and wove a web in 
accordance with the eternal law. To such a height do they rise at 
the utterance of the triple prophecy. 

The compromise was a necessary one ; for at the poet's time, 
the Twilight of the Gods had long since passed away, the dawn of 
Christianity was well advanced, and the myths of the pagan world 
were but fading memories — memories whose revival was possible 
only to the greatest poet, and he living in a time when the old 
beliefs yet lingered. The writing of such another drama is forever 
impossible. 

The final word concerning any tragedy of Shakespeare is a 
statement of the moral law that reigns throughout the universe. 
True, the poet did not write to point the moral ; neither is any 
tragic episode in life sent to point a moral : but the moral is not- 
withstanding there. There are certain deeds that disturb the uni- 
versal harmony of things ; these deeds all things conspire to punish : 
in Shakespeare, as in life, is the law worked out. 



MACBETH. 



DRAMATIS PERSON/E. 



Duncan, king of Scotland. 
Malcolm, | , - 

DONALBA.N, [ HlS S ° nS - 

Ba A nq B uJ, H ' [s eneraIs of the kin S' s arm y- 
Macduff, ] 
Lennox, j 

Ross, i noblemen of Scotland. 

Menteith, j 
Angus, 
Caithness, J 
Fleance, son of Banquo. 
Siwakd, Earl of Northumberland, gen- 
eral of the English forces. 
Young Siward, his son. 
Seyton, an officer attending on Macbeth. 
Boy, son to Macduff. 



An English Doctor. 

A Scotch Doctor. 

A Soldier. 

A Porter. 

An Old Man. 

Lady Macbeth. 

Lady Macduff. 

Gentlewoman attending on LadyMacbeth. 

Hecate. 
Three Witches. 
Apparitions. 

Lords. Gentlemen, Officer?, Soldiers, 
Murderers, Attendants, and Messen- 
gers. 

Scene: Scotland: England. 



ACT I. 

Scene I. A desert place. 
Thunder and lightning. Enter three Witches. 

First Witch. When shall we three meet again 
In thunder, lightning, or in rain? 

Second Witch. When the hurlyburly's done, 
When the battle's lost and won. 

Third Witch. That will be ere the set of sun. 

First Witch. Where the place? 

Second Witch. Upon the heath. 

Third Witch. There to meet with Macbeth. 

First Witch. I come, Graymalkin ! 

Second Witch. Paddock calls. 



2 MACBETH. 

Third Witch. Anon. 10 

All. Fair is foul, and foul is fair: 
Hover through the fog and filthy air. [Exeunt. 

Scene II. A camp near Forres. 

Alarum within. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, 

Donalbain, Lennox, with Attendants, 

meeting a bleeding Sergeant. 

Duncan. What bloody man is that? He can report, 
As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt 
The newest state. 

Malcolm. This is the sergeant 

Who like a good and hardy soldier fought 
'Gainst my captivity. Hail, brave friend ! 
Say to the king the knowledge of the broil 
As thou didst leave it. 

Sergeant. Doubtful it stood; 

As two spent swimmers, that do cling together 
And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald — 
Worthy to be a rebel, for to that 10 

The multiplying villanies of nature 
Do swarm upon him — from the western isles 
Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied ; 
And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling, 
Show'd like a rebel's whore : but all's too weak : 
For brave Macbeth — well he deserves that name — 
Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel, 
Which smoked with bloody execution, 



ACT I. SCENE II. 3 

Like valor's minion carved out his passage 
Till he faced the slave; 20 

Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, 
Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps, 
And fix'd his head upon our battlements. 

Duncan. O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman! 

Sergeant. 'As whence the sun 'gins his reflection 
Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break, 
So from that spring whence comfort seenrd to come 
Discomfort swells/ Mark, king of Scotland, mark : 
No sooner justice had with valor arnrd 
Compell'd these skipping kerns to trust their heels, 30 

But the Norweyan lord, surveying vantage, 
With furbish'd arms and new supplies of men 
Began a fresh assault. 

Duncan. Dismay'd not this 

Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo? 

Sergeant. Yes ; 

As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion. 
If I say sooth, I must report they were 
As cannons overcharged with double cracks, so they 
Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe : 
Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds, 
Or memorize another Golgotha, 40 

I cannot tell — 
But I am faint, my gashes cry for help. 

Duncan. So well thy words become thee as thy wounds ; 
They smack of honor both. Go get him surgeons'. 

[Exit Sergeant, attended. 
Who comes here? 



4 MACBETH. 

Enter Ross. 

Malcolm. The worthy thane of Ross. 

Lennox. What a haste looks through his eyes ! So 
should he look 
That seems to speak things strange. 

Ross. God save the king! 

Duncan. Whence earnest thou, worthy thane? 

Ross. From Fife, great king; 

Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky 
And fan our people cold. Norway himself, 50 

With terrible numbers, 
Assisted by that most disloyal traitor 
The thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict; 
Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapp'd in proof, 
Confronted him with self -comparisons, 
Point against point rebellious, arm 'gainst arm, 
Curbing his lavish spirit: and, to conclude, 
The victory fell on us. 

Duncan. Great happiness ! 

Ross. That now 

Sweno, the Norways' king, craves composition ; 
Nor would we deign him burial of his men 60 

Till he disbursed at Saint Colme's Inch 
Ten thousand dollars to our general use. 

Duncan. No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive 
Our bosom interest : go pronounce his present death, 
And with his former title greet Macbeth. 

Ross. I'll see it done. 

Duncan. What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won. 

[Exeunt. 



ACT I. SCENE III. 5 

Scene III. A heath near Forres. 
Thunder. Enter the three Witches. 

First Witch. Where hast thou been, sister? 

Second Witch. Killing swine. 

Third Witch. Sister, where thou? 

First Witch. A sailor's wife had chestnuts in her lap, 
And munch'd, and munch'd, and munch'd. ' Give me,' 

quoth I : 
'Aroint thee, witch ! ' the rump-fed ronyon cries. 
Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master o' the Tiger: 
But in a sieve I'll thither sail, 
And, like a rat without a tail, 
I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do. 10 

Second Witch. I'll give thee a wind. 

First Witch. Thou'rt kind. 

Third Witch. And I another. 

First Witch. I myself have all the other, 
And the very ports they blow, 
All the quarters that they know 
I' the shipman's card. 
I will drain him dry as hay : 
Sleep shall neither night nor day 

Hang upon his pent-house lid ; 20 

He shall live a man forbid : 
Weary se'nnights nine times nine 
Shall he dwindle, peak and pine: 
Though his bark cannot be lost, 
Yet it shall be tempest-tost. 



6 MACBETH. 

Look what I have. 

Second Witch. Show me, show me. 

First Witch. Here I have a pilot's thumb, 
Wreck'd as homeward he did come. [Drum within. 

Third Witch. A drum, a drum ! 30 

Macbeth doth come. 

All. The weird sisters, hand in hand, 
Posters of the sea and land, 
Thus do go about, about : 
Thrice to thine and thrice to mine 
And thrice again, to make up nine. 
Peace ! the charm's wound up. 

Enter Macbeth and Banouo 

Macbeth. So foul and fair a day I have not seen. 

Banqno. How far is't call'd to Forres? What are 
these 
So wither'd arid so wild in their attire, 40 

That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth, 
And yet are on't? Live you? or are you aught 
That man may question? You seem to understand me, 
By each at once her choppy finger laying 
Upon her skinny lips : you should be women, 
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret 
That you are so. 

Macbeth. Speak, if you can : what are you ? 

First Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane 
of Glamis ! 



ACT I. SCENE III. 7 

Second Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane 

of Cawdor! 
Third Witch. All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king 
hereafter ! 50 

Banquo. Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear 
Things that do sound so fair ? V the name of truth, 
Are ve fantastical, or that indeed 



Which outwardly ye show ? My noble partner 

You greet with present grace and great prediction 

Of noble having and of royal hope, 

That he seems rapt withal : to me you speak not. 

If you can look into the seeds of time, 

And say which grain will grow and which will not, 

Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear 60 

Your favors nor your hate. 

First Witch. Hail! 

Second Witch. Hail ! 

Third Witch. Hail ! 

First Witch. Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. 

Second Witch. Not so happy, yet much happier. 

Third Witch. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be 
none : 
So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo! 

First Witch. Banquo and Macbeth, all hail! 

Macbeth. Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more : 70 
By Sinel's death I know I am thane of Glamis; 
But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives, 
A prosperous gentleman; and to be king 
Stands not within the prospect of belief, 



8 MACBETH. 

No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence 

You owe this strange intelligence? or why 

Upon this blasted heath you stop our way 

With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you 

[Witches vanish. 

Banquo. The earth hath bubbles as the water has, 
And these are of them. Whither are they vanish'd? 80 

Macbeth. Into the air; and what seem'd corporal 
melted 
As breath into the wind. Would they had stay'd ! 

Banquo. Were such things here as we do speak about? 
Or have we eaten .on th e insane root 
That takes the reason prisoner? 

Macbeth. Your children shall be kings. 

Banquo. You shall be king. 

Macbeth. And thane of Cawdor too : went it not so ? 

Banquo. To the selfsame tune and words. Who's here ? 

Enter Ross and Angus. 

Ross. The king hath happily received, Macbeth, 
The news of thy success ; and when he reads 90 

Thy personal venture in the rebels' fight, 
His wonders and his praises do contend 
Which should be thine or his : silenced with that, 
In viewing o'er the rest o' the selfsame day, 
He finds thee in the stout Norweyan ranks, 
Nothing afeard of what thyself didst make, 
Strange images of death. As thick as hail 
Came post with post ; and every one did bear 



ACT I. SCENE III. 9 

Thy praises in his kingdom's great defence, 
And pour'd them down before him. 

Angus. We are sent 100 

To give thee from our royal master thanks; 
Only to herald thee into his sight, 
Not pay thee. 

Ross. And for an earnest of a greater honor, 
He bade me, from him, call thee thane of Cawdor : 
In which addition, hail, most worthy thane! 
For it is thine. 

Banquo. What, can the devil speak true? \/ 

Macbeth. The thane of Cawdor lives : why do you 
dress me 
In borrow'd robes? 

Angus. Who was the thane lives yet, 

But under heavy judgement bears that life no 

Which he deserves to lose. Whether he was combined 
With those of Norway, or did line the rebel 
With hidden help and vantage, or that with both 
He labor d in his country's wreck, I know not; 
But treasons capital, confess' d and proved, 
Have overthrown him. 

Macbeth. [Aside] Glamis, and thane of Cawdor ! 

The greatest is behind. [To Ross and Angus.] Thanks 

for your pains. 
[To Banquo.] Do you not hope your children shall be 

kings, 
When those that gave the thane of Cawdor to me 
Promised no less to them? 



io MACBETH. 

Banquo. That trusted home 120 

Might yet enkindle you unto the crown, 
Besides the thane of Cawdor. But 'tis strange : 
And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, 
The instruments of darkness tell us truths, 
Win us with honest trifles, to betray's 
In deepest consequence. 
Cousins, a word, I pray you. 

Macbeth. [Aside] Two truths are told, 

As happy prologues to the swelling act 
Of the imperial theme. — I thank you, gentlemen. 
[Aside] This supernatural soliciting 130 

Cannot be ill, cannot be good : if ill, 
Why hath it given me earnest of success, 
Commencing in a truth ? I am thane of Cawdor : 
If good, why do I yield to that suggestio 
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair 
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, 
Against the use of nature? Present fears 
Are less than horrible imaginings : 
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, 
Shakes so my single state of man that function 140 

Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is 
But what is not. 

Banquo. Look how our partner's rapt. 

Macbeth. [Aside] If chance will have me king, why, 
Without my stir. [chance may crown me, 

Banquo. New honors come upon him, 

Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould 



ACT I. SCENE IV. n 

But with the aid of use. 

Macbeth. [Aside] Come what come may, 

Time and the hour runs through the roughest day. 
Banqito. Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure. 
Macbeth. Give me your favor: my dull brain was 
wrought 
With things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your pains 150 
Are register'd where every day I turn 
The leaf to read them. Let us toward the king. 
Think upon what hath chanced, and at more time, 
The interim having weigh'd it, let us speak 
/ Our free'hearts each to other. o^A C 

^- Banqno. Very gladly. 

Macbeth. Till then, enough. Come, friends. [Exeunt. 

Scene IV. Forres. The palace. 
Flourish. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, 
Lennox, and Attendants. 

Duncan. Is execution done on Cawdor? Are not 
Those in commission yet return'd? 

Malcolm. - My liege, 

They are not yet come back. But I have spoke 
With one that saw him die : who did report 
That very frankly he confess'd his treasons, 
Implored your highness' pardon and set forth 
A deep repentance : (nothing in his life ^a^uv/v— 

Became him like the leaving it ; he died 
As one that had been studied in his death 



12 MACBETH. 

To throw away the dearest thing he owed 10 

As 'twere a careless trifle, j 

Duncan. There's no art 

To find the mind's construction in the face: 
He was a gentleman on whom I built 
An absolute trust. 

Enter Macbeth, Banouo, Ross, and Angus. 

O worthiest cousin ! 
The sin of my ingratitude even now 
Was heavy on me : thou art so far before 
That swiftest wing of recompense is slow 
To overtake thee. Would thou hadst less deserved, 
That the proportion both of thanks and payment 
Might have been mine ! only I have left to say, 20 

More is thy due than more than all can pay. 

Macbeth. The service and the loyalty I owe 
In doing it, pays itself. Your highness' part 
Is to receive our duties : and our duties 
Are to your throne and state children and servants ; 
Which do but what they should, by doing every thing 
Safe toward your love and honor. 

Duncan. Welcome hither : 

I have begun to plant thee, and will labor /yviP^Wx^ 
To make thee full of growing. Noble BanquoJ 
That hast no less deserved, nor must be known 30 

No less to have done so : let me infold thee 
And hold thee to my heart. 






ACT I. SCENEIV. _ ^ ... '3, ,^\ 



c 



Banquo. There if I grow, 

The harvest is your own. ^ 

Duncan. My plenteous joys, 

Wanton in fulness, seek to hide themselves 
In drops of sorrow. Sons, kinsmen, thanes, 
And you whose places are the nearest, know 
We will establish our estate upon 
Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter 
The Prince of Cumberland : which honor must 
Not unaccompanied invest him only; 40 

But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine 
On all deservers. From hence to Inverness, 
And bind us further to you. 

Macbeth. The rest is labor, which is not used for 
you : 
I'll be myself the harbinger and make joyful 
The hearing of my wife with your approach; 
So humbly take my leave. 

Duncan. My worthy Cawdor! 

Macbeth. [Aside], The Prince of Cumberland! that 
is a step 
On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, ] 
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires ; 50 

Let not light see my black and deep desires : 
The eye wink at the hand ; yet let that be 
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see. [Exit. 

Duncan. True, worthy Banquo; he is full so valiant, 
And in his commendations I am fed; 
It is a banquet to me. Let's after him, 



u* 4 - 



i 4 MACBETH. 

'...Whose care is gone before to bid us welcome : 

\ It is a peerless kinsman! [Flourish. Exeunt. 

Scene V. Inverness. Macbeth s castle. 

Enter Lady Macbeth, reading a letter. 
Lady Macbeth. k They met me in the day of success : 
and I have learned by the perfectest report, they have 
more in them than mortal knowledge. When I burned 
in desire to question them further, they made themselves 
air, into which they vanished. Whiles I stood rapt in 
the wonder of it, came missives from the king, who all- 
hailed me " Thane of Cawdor ; " by which title, before, 
these weird sisters saluted me, and referred me to the 
coming on of time, with "Hail, king that shalt be!" 
This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest 
partner of greatness, that thou mightst not lose the dues 
of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what greatness is 
promised thee. Lay it to thy heart, and farewell.' 
Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be 
What thou art promised : yet do I fear thy nature; 
It is too full o' the milk of human kindness 
To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great; 
Art not without ambition, but without 
The illness should attend it : what thou wouldst highly, 
That wouldst thou holily ; wouldst not play false, 20 
And yet wouldst wrongly win: thouidst have, great 

Glamis, 
That which cries ' Thus thou must do, if thou have it ' ; 
And that which rather thou dost fear to do 



ACT I. SCENETSp i 5 

Than wishest should be undone. Hie thee hither, 
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear; 
And chastise with the valor of my tongue 
All that impedes thee from the golden round 
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem 
To have thee crown'd withal. 

j Enter a Messenger. 

What is your tidings ? 

Messenger. The king comes here to-night. 

Lady Macbetli. Thou'rt mad to say it : 

Is not thy master with him? who, were't so, 31 

Would have inform'd for preparation. 

Messenger. So please you, it is true : our thane is 
coming : 
One of my fellows had the speed of him, 
Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more 
Than would make up his message. 

Lady Macbeth. Give him tending; 

He brings great news. [Exit Messenger. 

The raven himself is hoarse 
That croaks the fatal' entrance of Duncan 
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits 
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, 40 

And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full 
Of direst cruelty ! make thick my blood ; 
Stop up the access and passage to remorse, 
That no compunctious visitings of nature 
Shake my fell purpose, nor keef) peace between 



1 6 MACBETH. 

The effect and it ! Come to my woman's breasts, 
And take my milk for gall, yon murdering ministers, 
Wherever in your sightless substances 
Yon wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night, 
And pall thee in the dnnnest smoke of hell, 50 

That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, 
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, 
To cry ' Hold, hold ! ' 

Enter Macbeth. 

Great Glamis ! worthy Cawdor ! 
Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter! 
Thy letters have transported me beyond 
This ignorant present, and I feel now 
The future in the instant. 

Macbeth. My dearest love, 

Duncan comes here to-night. 

Lady Macbeth. And when goes hence? 

Macbeth. To-morrow, as he purposes. 

Lady Macbeth. O, never 

Shall sun that morrow see ! 60 

Your face, my thane, is as a book where men 
May read strange matters. To beguile the time, 
Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, 
Your hand, your tongue : look like the innocent flower, 
But be the serpent under't. He that's coming 
Must be provided for: and you shall put 
This night's great business into my dispatch ; 
Which shall to all our nights and days to come 



\fr 



ACT L SCENE VI. 17 

Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom. 

Macbeth. We will speak further. 

Lady Macbeth. Only look up clear; 

To alter favor ever is to fear : 71 

Leave all the rest to me. [Exeunt. 

Scene VI. Before Macbeth' s castle. 
Hautboys and torches. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Don- 

ALBAIN, BANOUO, LENNOX, MACDUFF, R.OSS, ANGUS, 

and Attendants. 

Duncan. This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air 
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself 
Unto our gentle senses. 

Banquo. This guest of summer, 

The temple-haunting martlet, does approve 
By his loved mansionry that the heaven's breath 
Smells wooingly here: no jutty, frieze. 
Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird 
Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle : 
Where they most breed and haunt, I have observed 
The air is delicate. 

Enter Lady Macbeth. 

Duncan. See, see, our honor'd hostess! 10 

The love that follows us sometime is our trouble, 
Which still we thank as love. Herein I teach you 
How you shall bid God lid us for your pains 
And thank us for vour trouble. 



1 8 MACBETH. 

Lady Macbeth. All our service 

In every point twice done and then done double 
Were poor and single business to contend 
Against those honors deep and broad wherewith 
Your majesty loads our house: for those of old, 
And the late dignities heap'd up to them, 
We rest your hermits. 

Duncan. Where's the thane of Cawdor? 

We coursed him at the heels, and had a purpose 21 

To be his purveyor : but he rides well ; 
And his great love, sharp as his spur, hath holp him 
To his home before us. Fair and noble hostess, 
We are your guest to-night. 

Lady Macbeth. Your servants ever 

Have theirs, themselves, and what is theirs, in compt, 
To make their audit at your highness' pleasure, 
Still to return your own. 

Duncan. Give me your hand ; 

Conduct me to mine host : we love him highly, 
And shall continue our graces toward him. 30 

By your leave, hostess. [Exeunt. 

Scene VII. Macbeth' s castle. 

Hautboys and torches. Enter a Sewer, and divers Serv- 
ants with dishes and service, and pass over the stage. 
Then enter Macbeth. 

Macbeth. \ s \£ it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere 
well 

It were done quickly : if the assassination 



ACT I. SCENE VII. 19 

Could trammel up the consequence, and catch 

With his surcease success ; that but this blow 

Might be the be-all and the end-all here, 

But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, 

We'ld jump the life to come. But in these cases 

We still have judgement here;' that we but teach 

Bloody instructions, which being taught return 

To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice 10 

Commends the ingredients of our poison'd chalice 

To our own lips. He's here in double trust ; 

First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, 

Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, 

Who should against his murderer shut the door, 

Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan 

Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been 

So clear in his great office, that his virtues 

Will plead like angels trumpet-tongued against 

The deep damnation of his taking-off; 20 

And pity, like a naked new-born babe, 

Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, horsed 

Upon the sightless couriers of the air, 

Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, 

That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur 

To prick the sides of my intent, but only 

Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself 

And falls on the other. 



J 



2o MACBETH. 



Enter Lady Macbeth. 



How now ! what news ? 

Lady Macbeth. He has almost supp'd : why have you 
left the chamber? 

Macbeth. Hath he ask'd for me? 

Lady Macbeth. Know you not he has? 30 

Macbeth.i We will proceed no further in this business : 
He hath honor'd me of late ; and I have bought 
Golden opinions from all sorts of people, 
Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, 
Not cast aside so soon. 

Lady Macbeth. Was the hope drunk 

Wherein you dress'd yourself? hath it slept since? 
And wakes it now, to look so green and pale 
At what it did so freely ? From this time 
Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard 
To be the same in thine own act and valor 40 

As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that 
Which thou esteenrst the ornament of life, 
And live a coward in thine own esteem, 
Letting ' I dare not ' wait upon l I would,' 
Like the poor cat i' the adage ? 

Macbeth. Prithee, peace: 

I dare do all that may become a man ; 
Who dares do more is none. 

Lady Macbeth. What beast was't then 

That made you break this enterprise to me ? 
When you durst do it, then you were a man ; 



ACT I. SCENE VII. 21 

And, to be more than what you were, you would 50 

Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place 
Did then adhere, and yet you would make both : 
They have made themselves, and that their fitness now 
Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know 
How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me : 
I would, while it was smiling in my face, 
Have pluck 'd my nipple from his boneless gums 
And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you 
Have done to this. 

Macbeth. If we should fail? 

Lady Macbeth. We fail ! 

But screw your courage to the sticking-place, 60 

And we'll not fail. When Duncan is asleep — 

- 

Whereto the rather shall his day's hard journey 
Soundly invite him — his two chamberlains 
Will I with wine and wassail so convince 
That memory, the warder of the brain, 
Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason 
A limbec only : when in swinish sleep 
Their drenched natures lie as in a death, 
What cannot you and I perform upon 
The unguarded Duncan ? what not put upon 70 

His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt 
Of our great quell? 
«■" Macbeth. Bring forth men-children only ; 

For thy undaunted mettle should compose 
Nothing but males. W T ill it not be received, 
When we have mark'd with blood those sleepy two 



22 MACBETH. 

Of his own chamber and used their very daggers, 
That they have done't? 

Lady Macbeth. Who dares receive it other, 

As we shall make our griefs and clamor roar 
Upon his death? 

Macbeth. I am settled, and bend up 

Each corporal agent to this terrible feat. 80 

Away, and mock the time with fairest show : 
False face must hide what the false heart doth know. 

[Exeunt 
ACT II. 

Scene I. Court of Macbeth 3 s castle. 

Enter Banquo, and Fleance bearing a torch before him. 

Danquo. How goes the night, boy? ' 

Fleance. The moon is down ; I have not heard the 

clock. 
Banquo. And she goes down at twelve. 
Fleance. I take't, 'tis later, sir. 

Banquo. Hold, take my sword. There's husbandry in 
heaven ; 
Their candles are all out. Take thee that too. 
A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, 
And yet I would not sleep : merciful powers, 
Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature 
Gives way to in repose ! 

Enter Macbeth, and a Servant with a torch. 

Give me my sword. 
Who's there? 10 



ACT II. SCENE I. 23 

Macbeth. A friend. 

Banquo. What, sir, not yet at rest? The king's a-bed : 
He hath been in unusual pleasure, and 
Sent forth great largess to your offices. 
This diamond he greets your wife withal, 
By the name of most kind hostess ; and shut up 
In measureless content. 

Macbeth. Being unprepared, 

Our will became the servant to defect ; 
Which else should free have wrought. 

Banquo. All's well. 

I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters : 20 

To you they have show'd some truth. 

Macbeth. I think not of them : 

Yet, when we can entreat an hour to serve, 
We would spend it in some words upon that business, 
If you would grant the time. 

Banquo. At your kind'st leisure. 

Macbeth. If you shall cleave to my consent, when 'tis, 
It shall make honor for you. 

Banquo. So I lose none 

In seeking to augment it, but still keep 
My bosom franchised and allegiance clear, 
I shall be counsell'd. 

Macbeth. Good repose the while! 

Banquo. Thanks, sir : the like to you ! 30 

[Exeunt Banquo and Fleancc. 

Macbeth. Go bid thy mistress, when my drink is ready, 
She strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed. [Exit Servant. 



24 MACBETH. 

Is this a dagger which I see before me, 

The handle toward my hand ? Come, let me clutch thee. 

I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. 

Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible 

To feeling as to sight ? or art thou but 

A dagger of the mind, a false creation, 

Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain ? 

I see thee yet, in form as palpable 40 

As this which now I draw. 

Thou marshalFst me the way that I was going; 

And such an instrument I was to use. 

Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses, 

Or else worth all the rest : I see thee still ; 

And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, 

Which was not so before. There's no such thing : 

It is the bloody business which informs 

Thus to mine eyes. Now o'er the one half-world 

Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse 50 

The curtain'd sleep ; witchcraft celebrates 

Pale Hecate's offerings, and wither'd murder, 

Alarum'd by his sentinel the wolf, 

Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace, 

With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design 

Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth, 

Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear 

Thy very stones prate of my whereabout, 

And take the present horror from the time, 

Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat he lives : 60 

Words to the heat of deeds too cool breath gives. 

[A bell rings. 



ACT II. SCENE II. 25 

I go, and it is clone; the bell invites me. 

Hear it not, Duncan ; for it is a knell 

That summons thee to heaven or to hell. [Exit. 

Scene II. The same. 
Enter Lady Macbeth. 

Lady MacbethX-^hat which hath made them drunk 

hath made me bold Q 
What hath quench'd them hath given me fire. Hark ! 

Peace ! 

It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman, 
Which gives the stern'st good-night. He is about it : 
The doors are open, and the surfeited grooms 
Do mock their charge with snores : I have drugg'd their 

possets, 
That death and nature do contend about them, 
Whether they live or die. 
-Macbeth. [Within.] Who's there? what, ho! 

w Lady Macbeth. Alack, I am afraid they have awaked, 
AntT-'tis not done. The attempt and not the deed 10 

Confounds us. Hark ! I laid their daggers ready ; 
He could not miss 'era. Had he not resembled 
My father as he slept, I had done't. 

s^-~- Enter Macbeth. 

My husband ! 
Macbeth. I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a 
noise ? 



26 MACBETH. 

Lady M. I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. 
Did not you speak? 

Macbeth. When? 

Lady Macbeth. Now. 

Macbeth. As I descended? 

Lady Macbeth. Ay. 

Macbeth. Hark ! 
Who lies i' the second chamber? 

Lady Macbeth. Donalbain. 

Macbeth. This is a sorry sight. [Looking on his 
hands. 20 

Lady Macbeth. A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight. 

Macbeth. There's one did laugh in's sleep, and one 
cried ' Murder ! ' 
That they did wake each other : I stood and heard them : 
But they did say their prayers, and address'd them 
Again to sleep. 

Lady Macbeth. There are two lodged together. 

Macbeth. One cried ' God bless us ! ' and 'Amen ' the 
other ; 
As they had seen me with these hangman's hands : 
Listening their fear, I could not say ' Amen,' 
When they did say ' God bless us ! ' 

Lady Macbeth. Consider it not so deeply. 30 

Macbeth. But wherefore could not I . pronounce 
'Amen ' ? 
I had most need of blessing, and ' Amen ' 
Stuck in my throat. 

Lady Macbeth. These deeds must not be thought 



ACT II. SCENE II. 27 

After these ways ; so, it will make us mad. 

Macb. Qvfethought I heard a voice cry ' Sleep no more ! 
Macbeth doth murder sleep,' the innocent sleep, 
Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care, 
The death of each day's life, sore labor's bath, 
Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, 
Chief nourisher in life's feast, — 

Lady Macbeth. What do you mean? 40 

Macbeth. Still it cried ' Sleep no more ! ' to all the 
house : 
' Glamis hath murder'd sleep, and therefore Cawdor 
Shall sleep no more ; Macbeth shall sleep no morejj 

Lady M. Who was it that thus cried ? Why, worthy 
thane, 
/ You do unbend your noble strength, to think 
So brainsickly of things. Go get some water, 
And wash this filthy witness from your hand. 
Why did you bring these daggers from the place ? 
They must lie there : go carry them, and smear 
The* sleepy grooms with blood. 

Macbeth. I'll go no more: 50 

I am afraid to think what I have done; 
Look on't again I dare not. 

Lady Macbeth. Infirm of purpose ! 

Give me the daggers: the sleeping and the dead 
Are but as pictures: 'tis the eye of childhood 
That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed, 
I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal; 
For it must seem their guilt. [Exit. Knocking within. 



28 MACBETH. 

Macbeth. Whence is that knocking? 

How is't with me, when every noise appals me? 
What hands are here ? ha ! they pluck out mine eyes. 
Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood 60 

Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather 
The multitudinous seas incarnadine, 
Making the green one red. 

Re-enter Lady Macbeth. 

Lady Macbeth. My hands are of your color; but I 
shame \ 
To wear a heart so white. [Knocking within.] I hear a 

knocking / 

At the south entry : retire we to our chamber : 
A little water clears us of this deed ; 
How easy is it, then ! Your constancy 
Hath left you unattended. [Knocking within.] Hark! 

more knocking. 
Get on your nightgown, lest occasion call us 70 

And show us to be watchers. Be not lost 
So poorly in your thoughts. 
Macbeth. To know my deed, 'twere best not know 
myself. [Knocking within. 

Wake Duncan with thy knocking ! I would thou couldst ! 

[Exeunt. 
Scene III. The same. 

Knocking within. Enter a Porter. 

Porter. Here's a knocking indeed ! If a man were 
porter of hell-gate, he should have old turning the key. 



ACT II. SCENE III. 29 

[Knocking within,] Knock, knock, knock ! Who's there, 
i' the name of Beelzebub? Here's a farmer, that hanged 
himself on the expectation of plenty : come in time ; have 
napkins enow about you ; here you'll sweat for't. 
[Knocking within.] Knock, knock! Who's there, in the 
other devil's name? Faith, here's an equivocator, that 
could swear in both the scales against either scale ; who 
committed treason enough for God's sake, yet could not 
equivocate to heaven : O come in, equivocator. [Knock- 
ing within.] Knock, knock, knock! Who's there? 
Faith, here's an English tailor come hither, for stealing 
out of a French hose : come in, tailor ; here you may roast 
your goose. [Knocking within.] Knock, knock; never 
at quiet! What are you? But this place is too cold for 
hell. I'll devil-porter it no further: I had thought to 
have let in some of all professions, that go the prim- 
rose way to the everlasting bonfire. [Knocking within.] 
Anon, anon ! I pray you, remember the porter. 20 

[Opens the gate. 

Enter Macduff and Lennox. 

Macduff. Was it so late, friend, ere you went to bed, 
That you do lie so late? 

Porter. Faith, sir, we were carousing till the second 

cock. 
Macduff. Is thy master stirring? 

Enter Macbeth. 
Our knocking has awaked him ; here he comes. 
Ecnnox. Good morrow, noble sir. 



30 MACBETH. 

Macbeth. Good morrow, both. 

Macduff. Is the king stirring, worthy thane? 

Macbeth. Not yet. 

Macduff. He did command me to call timely on him : 
I have almost slipp'd the hour. 

Macbeth. Til bring you to him. 

Macduff. I know this is a joyful trouble to you; 30 
But yet 'tis one. 

Macbeth. The labor we delight in physics pain. 
This is the door. 

Macduff. I'll make so bold to call, 

For 'tis my limited service. [Exit. 

Lennox. Goes the king hence to-day? 

Macbeth. He does: he did appoint so. 

Lennox. The night has been unruly; where we lay, 
Our chimneys were blown down, and, as they say, 
Lamentings heard i' the air, strange screams of death, 
And prophesying with accents terrible 
Of dire combustion and confused events 40 

New hatch'd to the woeful time: the obscure bird 
Clamor'd the livelong night: some say, the earth 
Was feverous and did shake. 

Macbeth. 'Twas a rough night. 

Lennox. My young remembrance cannot parallel 
A fellow to it. 

Re-enter Macduff. 

Macduff. O horror, horror, horror ! Tongue nor heart 
Cannot conceive nor rmjne thee ! 



ACT II. SCENE III. 31 

Macbeth. ) „» , , 

What's the matter? 
Lennox. \ 

Macduff. Confusion now hath made his masterpiece! 
Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope 
The Lord's anointed temple, and stole thence 50 

The life o' the building. 

Macbeth. ■ What is't you say? the life? 

Lennox. Mean you his majesty? 

Macduff. Approach the chamber, and destroy your 
sight 
With a new Gorgon : do not bid me speak ; 
See, and then speak yourselves. [Exeunt Macbeth and 
Lennox. 

Awake, awake ! 
Ring the alarum-bell. Murder and treason ! 
Banquo and Donalbain ! Malcolm ! awake ! 
Shake off this downy sleep, death's counterfeit, 
And look on death itself! up, up, and see 
The great doom's image ! Malcolm ! Banquo ! 60 

As from your graves rise up, and walk like sprites, 
To countenance this horror. Ring the bell. [Bell rings. 
Enter Lady Macbeth. 

Lady Macbeth. What's the business, 
That such a hideous trumpet calls to parley 
The sleepers of -the house? speak, speak! 

Macduff. O gentle lady, 

'Tis not for you to hear what I can speak : 
The repetition, in a woman's ear, 
Would murder as it fell. 



x 



3 2 MACBETH. 

Enter Banquo. 

O Banquo, Banquo ! 
Our royal master's murder'd. 

Lady Macbeth. Woe, alas ! 

What, in onr house ? 

Banquo. Too cruel any where. 70 

Dear Duff, I prithee, contradict thyself, 
And say it is not so. 

Re-enter Macbeth and Lennox. 

Macbeth. Had I but died an hour before this chance, 
I had lived a blessed time ; for from this instant 
There's nothing serious in mortality: 
All is but toys : renown and grace is dead ; 
The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees 
Is left this vault to brag of. 

Enter Malcolm and Donaleain. 

Donalbain. What is amiss? 

Macbeth. You are, and do not know't : 

The spring, the head, the fountain of your blood 80 

Is stopp'd ; the very source of it is stopp'd. 

Macduff. Your royal father's murder'd. 

Malcolm. O, by whom? 

Lennox. Those of his chamber, as it seem'd, had 
done't : 
Their hands and faces were all badged with blood ; 
So were their daggers, which unwiped we found 
Upon their pillows : 



€i 



CT II. SCENE III. 33 

They stared, and were distracted ; no man's life 
Was to be trusted with them. 

Macbeth. O, yet I do repent me of my fury, 
That I did kill them. 

Macduff. Wherefore did you so? 90 

Macbeth. Who can be wise, amazed, temperate and 
furious, 
Loyal and neutral, in a moment ? No man : 
The expedition of my violent love 
Outrun the pauser reason. Here lay Duncan, 
His silver skin laced with his golden blood, 
And his gash'd stabs look'd like a breach in nature 
For ruin's wasteful entrance : there, the murderers, 
Steep'd in the colors of their trade, their daggers 
Unmannerly breech' d with gore : who could refrain, 
That had a heart to love, and in that heart 100 

Courage to make's love known? 

Lady Macbeth. Help me hence, ho ! 

Macduff. Look to the lady. 

Malcolm. [Aside to Don.} Why do we hold our 
tongues, 
That most may claim this argument for ours? 

Don. [Aside to Mai] What should be spoken here, 
where our fate 
Hid in an auger-hole, may rush, and seize us? 
Let's away; 
Our tears are not yet brew'd. 

Malcolm. [Aside to Don.] Nor our strong sorrow 
Upon the foot of motion. 
3 



34 MACBETH. 

Banquo. Look to the lady: 

[Lady Macbeth is carried out. 
And when we have onr naked frailties hid, 
That suffer in exposure, let us meet, no 

And question this most bloody piece of work, 
To know it further. Fears and scruples shake us : 
In the great hand of God I stand, and thence 
Against the undivulged pretence I fight 
Of treasonous malice. 

Macduff. And so do I. 

AIL So all. 

Macbeth. Let's briefly put on manly readiness, 
And meet i' the hall together. 

All Well contented. 

[Exeunt all but Malcolm and Donalbain. 

Malcolm. What will you do? Let's not consort with 
them : 
To show an unfelt sorrow in an office 
Which the false man does easy. I'll to England. 120 

Donalbain. To Ireland, I ; our separated fortune 
Shall keep us both the safer : where we are, 
There's daggers in men's smiles : the near in blood, 
The nearer bloody. 

Malcolm. This murderous shaft that's shot 

Hath not yet lighted, and our safest way 
Is to avoid the aim. Therefore, to horse ; 
And let us not be dainty of leave-taking, 
But shift away: there's warrant in that theft 
Which steals itself when there's no mercv left. [Exeunt. 



ACT II. SCENE IV. 35 

Scene IV. Outside Macbeth' s castle. 
Enter Ross and an old Man. 

Old Man. Threescore and ten I can remember well : 
Within the volume of which time I have seen 
Hours dreadful and things strange; but this sore night 
Hath trifled former knowings. 

Ross. Ah, good father, 

Thou seest, the heavens, as troubled with man's act 
Threaten his bloody stage : by the clock 'tis day, 
And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp: 
Is't night's predominance, or the day's shame, 
That darkness does the face of earth entomb, 
When living light should kiss it? 

Old Man. 'Tis unnatural, 10 

Even like the deed that's done. On Tuesday last, 
A falcon, towering in her pride of place, 
Was by a mousing owl hawk'd at and kill'd. 

Ross. And Duncan's horses — a thing most strange 
and certain — 
Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race, 
Turn'd wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out, 
Contending 'gainst obedience, as they would make 
War with mankind. 

Old Man. 'Tis said they eat each other. 

Ross. They did so, to the amazement of mine eyes 
That look'd upon't. 



36 MACBETH. 

Enter Macduff. 

Here comes the good Macduff. 20 
How goes the world, sir, now? 

Macduff. Why, see you not? 

Ross. Is't known who did this more than bloody deed? 

Macduff. Those that Macbeth hath slain. 

Ross. Alas, the day! 

What good could they pretend? 

Macduff. They were subonrd : 

Malcolm and Donalbain, the king's two sons, 
Are stol'n away and fled, which puts upon them 
Suspicion of the deed. 

Ross. 'Gainst nature still : 

Thriftless ambition, that wilt ravin up 
Thine own life's means ! Then 'tis most like 
The sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth. 30 

Macduff. He is already named, and gone to Scone 
To be invested. 

Ross. Where is Duncan's body? 

Macduff. Carried to Colme-kill, 
The sacred storehouse of his predecessors 
And guardian of their bones. 

Ross. Will you to Scone? 

Macduff. No, cousin, I'll to Fife. 

Ross. Well, I will thither. 

Macduff. Well, may you see things well done there; 
adieu ! 
Lest our old robes sit easier than our new ! 



ACT III. SCENE I. 37 



• 



Ross. Farewell, father. 39 

Old Man. God's benison go with you, and with those 
That would make good of bad, and friends of foes ! 

[Exeunt. 

ACT III. 

Scene I. Forres. The palace: 

Enter Banquo. 

Banquo. Thou hast it now : king, Cawdor, Glamis, all, 
As the weird women promised, and, I fear, 
Thou play'dst most foully for't: yet it was said 
It should not stand in thy posterity, 
But that myself should be the root and father 
Of many kings. If there come truth from them — 
As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine — 
Why, by the verities on thee made good, 
May they not be my oracles as well 
And set me up in hope? But hush ! no more. 10 

Sennet sounded. Enter Macbeth as king; Lady 

Macbeth as queen; Lennox, Ross, Lords, 

Ladies, and Attendants. 

Macbeth. Here's our chief guest. 

Lady Macbeth. If he had been forgotten, 

It had been as a gap in our great feast, 
And all-thing unbecoming. 

Macbeth. To-night we hold a solemn supper, sir, 
And I'll request your presence. 



3 8 * MACBETH. 



• 



Banquo. Let your highness 

Command upon me ; to the which my duties 
Are with a most indissoluble tie 
For ever knit. 

Macbeth. Ride you this afternoon? 

Banquo. Ay, my good lord. 19 

Macbeth. We should have else desired your good 
advice, 
Which still hath been both grave and prosperous. 
In this day's council; but we'll take to-morrow. 
Is't far you ride? 

Banquo. As far, my lord, as will fill up the time 
'Twixt this and supper : go not my horse the better, 
I must become a borrower of the night 
For a dark hour or twain. 

Macbeth. Fail not our feast. 

Banquo. My lord, I will not. 

Macbeth. We hear our bloody cousins are bestow'd 
In England and in Ireland, not confessing J 30 

Their cruel parricide, filling their hearers 
With strange invention : but of that to-morrow, 
When therewithal we shall have cause of state 
Craving us jointly. Hie you to horse: adieu, 
Till you return at night. Goes Fleance with you ? 

Banquo. Ay, my good lord : our time does call upon's. 

Macbeth. I wish your horses swift and sure of foot ; 
And so I do commend you to their backs. 
Farewell. [Exit Banquo. 

Let every man be master of his time 40 

Till seven at night : to make society 



/ 



ACT III. SCENE I. .39 

The sweeter welcome, we will keep ourself 

Till supper-time alone : while then, God be with you ! 

[Exeunt all but Macbeth and an Attendant. 
Sirrah, a word with you : attend those men 
Our pleasure? 

Attendant. They are, my lord, without the palace gate. 

Macbeth. Bring them before us. [Exit Attendant. 

To be thus is nothing; 
But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo 
Stick deep ; and in his royalty of nature 
Reigns that which would be fear'd : 'tis much he dares, 50 
And, to that dauntless temper of his mind, 
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor 
To act in safety. There is none but he 
Whose being I do fear : and under him 
My Genius is rebuked, as it is said 
Mark Antony's was by Caesar. He chid the sisters, 
When first they put the name of king upon me, 
And bade them speak to him : then prophet-like 
They hail'd him father to a line of kings : 
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, 60 

And put a barren sceptre in my gripe, 
Thence to be wrench'd with an unlineal hand, 
No son of mine succeeding. I ft be so, 
For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind ; 
For them the gracious Duncan have I murder d ; 
Put rancors in the vessel of my peace 
Only for them ; and mine eternal jewel 
Given to the common enemy of man, 
To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings : 



4 o MACBETH. 

Rather than so, come, fate, into the list, 70 

And champion me to the utterance! Who's there? 

Re-enter Attendant, with two Murderers. 

Now go to the door, and stay there till we call. 

[Exit Attendant. 
Was it not yesterday we spoke together? 

First Murderer. It was, so please your highness. 

Macbeth. Well then, now 

Have you consider'd of my speeches ? Know 
That it was he in the times past which held you 
So under fortune, which you thought had been 
Our innocent self : this I made good to you 
In our last conference, pass'd in probation with you, 79 
How you were borne in hand, how cross'd, the instru- 
ments, 
Who wrought with them, and all things else that might 
To half a soul and to a notion crazed 
Say ' Thus did Banquo.' 

First Murderer. You made it known to us. 

Macbeth. I did so, and went further, which is now 
Our point of second meeting. Do you find 
Your patience so predominant in your nature 
That you can let this go? Are you so gospell'd * 
To pray for this good man and for his issue, 
Whose heavy hand hath bow'd you to the grave 
And beggar' d yours for ever ? 

First Murderer. We are men, my liege. 90 

Macbeth. Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men ; 



ACT III. SCENE I. 41 

As hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs, 

Shoughs, water-rugs and demi-wolves, are clept 

All by the name of dogs : the valued file 

Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle, 

The housekeeper, the hunter, every one 

According to the gift which bounteous nature 

Hath in him closed, whereby he does receive 

Particular addition, from the bill 

That writes them all alike : and so of men. 100 

Now if you have a station in the file, 

Not i' the worst rank of manhood, say't; 

And I will put that business in your bosoms, 

Whose execution takes your enemy off, 

Grapples you to the heart and love of us, 

Who wear our health but sickly in his life, 

Which in his death were perfect. 

Second Murderer. I am one, my liege, 

Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world 
Have so incensed that I am reckless what 
I do to spite the world. 

First Murderer. And I another no 

So weary with disasters, tugg'd with fortune, 
That I would set my life on any chance, 
To mend it or be rid on't. 

Macbeth, Both' of you 

Know Banquo was your enemy. 

Both Murderers. True, my Lord. 

Macbeth, So is he mine, and in such bloody distance 
That every minute of his being thrusts 
Against my near'st of life : and though I could 
With barefaced power sweep him from my sight 



42 MACBETH. 

And bid my will avouch it, yet I must not, 

For certain friends that are both his and mine, 120 

Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall 

Who I myself struck down: and thence it is, 

That I to your assistance do make love, 

Masking the business from the common eye 

For sundry weighty reasons. 

Second Murderer. We shall, my lord, 

Perform what you command us. 

First Murderer. Though our lives — 

Macbeth. Your spirits shine through you. Within 
this hour at most 
I will advise you where to plant yourselves, 
Acquaint you with the perfect spy o' the time, 
The moment on't; for't must be"done to-night, 130 

And something from the palace; always thought 
That I require a clearness : and with him — 
To leave no rubs nor botches in the work — 
Fleance his son, that keeps him company, 
Whose absence is no less material to me 
Than is his father's, must embrace the fate 
Of that dark hour. Resolve yourselves apart : 
I'll come to you anon. 

Both Murderers. We are resolved, my lord 

Macbeth. I'll call upon you straight : abide within. 

[Exeunt Murderers. 
It is concluded : Banquo, thy soul's flight, 140 

If it find heaven must find it out to-night. [Exit. 



ACT III. SCENE II. 43 

Scene II. The palace. 
Enter Lady Macbeth and a Servant. 

Lady Macbeth. Is Banquo gone from court? 

Servant. Ay, madam, but returns again to-night. 

Lady Macbeth. Say to the king, I would attend his 
leisure 
For a few words. 

Servant. Madam,. I will. [Exit. 

Lady Macbeth. Nought's had, all's spent, 

Where our desire is got without content : 
Tis safer to be that which we destroy 
Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy. ) 

Enter Macbeth. 

How now, my lord ! why do you keep alone, 

Of sorriest fancies your companions making; 

Using those thoughts which should indeed have died 10 

With them they think on? Things without all remedy 

Should be without regard : what's done is done. 

Macbeth. We have scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it : 
She'll close and be herself, whilst our poor malice 
Remains in danger of her former tooth. 
But let the frame of things disjoint, both the worlds 

suffer, 
Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep 
In the affliction of these terrible dreams 
That shake us nightly; better be with the dead, 
Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace, 20 
Than on the torture of the mind to lie 
In restless ecstasv. Duncan is in his grave ; 



44 MACBETH. 

After life's fitful fever he sleeps well; 

Treason has done his worst : nor steel, nor poison, 

Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing, 

Can touch him further. 

Lady Macbeth. Come on ; 

Gentle my lord, sleek o'er your rugged looks ; 
Be bright and jovial among your guests to-night. 

Macbeth. So shall I, love ; and so, I pray, be you : 
Let your remembrance apply to Banquo; 30 

Present him eminence, both with eye and tongue: 
Unsafe the while, that we 

Must lave our honors in these flattering streams 
And make our faces visards to our hearts, 
Disguising what they are. 

Lady Macbeth. You must leave this. 

Macbeth. O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife ! 
Thou know'st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives. 

Lady Macbeth. But in them nature's copy's not eterne. 

Macbeth. There's comfort yet ; they are assailable ; 
Then be thou jocund : ere the bat hath flown 40 

His cloister'd flight, ere to black Hecate's summons 
The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums 
Hath rung night's yawning peal, there shall be done 
A deed of dreadful note. 

Lady Macbeth. What's to be done? 

Macbeth. [Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, 
Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night, 
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day, 
And with thy bloody and invisible hand 



ACT III. SCENE III. 45 

Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond 

Which keeps me pale ! Light thickens, and the crow 50 

Makes wing to the rooky wood : ( 

Good things of day begin to droop and drowse ; 

Whiles night's black agents to their preys do rouse. 

Thou marvell'st at my words : but hold thee still : 

Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill. 

So, prithee, go with me. [Exeunt. 

Scene III. A park near the palace. 
Enter three Murderers. 

First Murderer. But who did bid thee join with us? 

Third Murderer. Macbeth. 

Sec. Murd. He needs not our mistrust, since he de- 
livers 
Our offices and what we have to do 
To the direction just. 

First Murderer. Then stand with us. 

The west yet glimmers with some streaks of day : 
Now spurs the lated traveller apace 
To gain the timely inn, and near approaches 
The subject of our watch. 

Third Murderer. Hark! I hear horses. 

Banquo. [Within.] Give us a light there, ho! 

Second Murderer. Then 'tis he : the rest 

That are within the note of expectation 10 

Already are i' the court. 

First Murderer. His horses go about. 

Third Murderer. Almost a mile: but he does usually, 



46 MACBETH. 

So all men do, from hence to the palace gate 
Make it their walk. 

Second Murderer. A light, a light ! 

Enter Banquo, and Fleance with a torch. 

Third Murderer. Tis he. 

First Murderer. Stand to 't. 

Bauquo. It will be rain to night. 

First Murderer. Let it come down. 

[They set upon Banquo. 

Banquo. O, treachery ! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly ! 
Thou mayst revenge. O slave ! [Dies. Fleance escapes. 

Third Murderer. Who did strike out the light? 

First Murderer. Was't not the way? 

Third Murd. There's but one down ; the son is fled. 

Second Murderer. We have lost 

Best half of our affair. 21 

First Murd. Well, let's away, and say how much is 
done. [Exeunt. 

Scene IV. Hall in the palace. 

A banquet prepared. Enter Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, 
Ross, Lennox, Lords, and Attendants. 

Macbeth. You know your own degrees ; sit down : at 
first 
And last the hearty welcome. 

Lords. Thanks to your majesty. 

Macbeth. Ourself will mingle with society 
And play the humble host. 
Our hostess keeps her state, but in best time 



ACT III. SCENE IV. 47 

We will require her welcome. 

Lady Macbeth. Pronounce it for me, sir, to all our 
friends ; 
For my heart speaks they are welcome. 

First Murderer appears at the door. 
Macbeth. See, they encounter thee with their heart's 
thanks. 
Both sides are even: here I'll sit i' the midst: 10 

Be large in mirth ; anon we'll drink a measure 
The table round. [Approaching the door.] There's blood 
upon thy face. 
Murderer. 'Tis Banquo's then. ^ 

fiS^MS^MacbcthK 'Tis better thee without than he within. 
is lie dispatch'd ? 

Murderer. My lord, his throat is cut; that I did for 

him. 
Macb. Thou art the best o' the cut-throats : yet he's 
good 
That did the like for Fleance : if thou didst it, 
Thou art the nonpareil. 

Murderer. Most royal sir, 

Fleance is 'scaped. 20 

Macbeth. [Aside.] Then comes my fit again: I had else 
been perfect, 
Whole as the marble, founded as the rock, 
As broad and general as the casing air : 
But now I am cabin'd, cribb'd, confined, bound in 
To saucy doubts and fears. — But Banquo's safe? 

Murderer. Ay, my good lord : safe in a ditch he bides, 



48 MACBETH. 

With twenty trenched gashes on his head. 
The least a death to nature. 

Macbeth. Thanks for that. 

[Aside.] There the grown serpent lies; the worm that's 

fled 
Hath nature that in time will venom breed, 30 

No teeth for the present. — Get thee gone: to-morrow 
We'll hear ourselves again. [Exit Murderer. 

Lady Macbeth. My royal lord, 

You do not give the cheer ; the feast is sold 
That is not often vouch'd, while 'tis a-making, 
'Tis given with welcome : to feed were best at home ; 
From thence the sauce to meat is ceremony ; 
Meeting were bare without it. 

Macbeth. Sweet remembrancer ! 

Now good digestion wait on appetite, 
And health on both! 

Lennox. May't please your highness sit. 

The Ghost of Banqito enters, and sits in Macbcth's 
place. 

Macbeth. Here had we now our country's honor 
roof'd, 40 

Were the graced person of our Banquo present ; 
Who may I rather challenge for unkindness 
Than pity for mischance! 

~Ross. His absence, sir, 

Lays blame upon his promise. Please't your highness 
To grace us with your royal company. 

Macbeth. The table's full. 



ACT III. SCENE IV. 49 

Lennox. Here is a place reserved, sir. 

Macbeth. Where ? 

Lennox. Here, my good lord. What is't that moves 
your highness? 

Macbeth. Which of you have done this? 

Lords. What, my good lord? 

Macbeth. Thou canst not say I did it : never shake 50 
Thy gory locks at me. 

Ross. Gentlemen, rise: his highness is not well. 

Lady Macbeth. Sit, worthy friends : my lord is often 
thus, 
And hath been from his youth : pray you, keep seat ; 
The fit is momentary; upon a thought 
He will again be well : if much you note him, 
You shall offend him and extend his passion : 
Feed, and regard him not. Are you a man ? 

Macbeth. Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that 
Which might appal the devil. 

Lady Macbeth. O proper stuff ! 60 

This is the very painting of your fear: 
This is the air-drawn dagger which, you said, 
Led you to Duncan. O, these flaws and starts, 
Impostors to true fear, would well become 
A woman's story at a winter's fire, 
Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself! 
Why do you make such faces ? When all's done, 
You look but on a stool. 

Macbeth. Prithee, see there ! behold ! look ! lo ! how say 
you? 



5° 



MACBETH. 



Why, what care I ? If thou canst nod, speak too. 70 

If charnel-houses and our graves must send 

Those that we bury back, our monuments 

Shall be the maws of kites. [Ghost vanishes. 

Lady Macbeth. What, quite unmann'd in folly? 

Macbeth. If I stand here, I saw him. 

Lady Macbeth. Fie, for shame ! 

Macbeth. Blood hath been shed ere now, i' the olden 
time, 
Ere humane statute purged the gentle weal ; 
Ay, and since too, murders have been perform'd 
Too terrible for the ear : the time has been, 
That, when the brains were out, the man would die, 
And there an end ; but now they rise again, 80 

With twenty mortal murders on their crowns, 
And push us from our stools : this is more strange 
Than such a murder is. 

Lady Macbeth. My worthy lord, 

Your noble friends do lack you. 

Macbeth. I do forget. 

Do not muse at me, my most worthy friends ; 
I have a strange infirmity, which is nothing 
To those that know me. Come, love and health to all ; 
Then I'll sit down. Give me some wine, fill full. 
I drink to the general joy o' the whole table, 
And to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss ; 90 

Would he were here ! to all and him we thirst, 
And all to all. 

Lords. Our duties, and the pledge. 



ACT III. SCENE IV. 51 

. 

Re-enter Ghost. 

Macb. A vaunt! and quit my sight! let the earth hide 
thee ! 
Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold ; 
Thou hast no speculation in those eyes 
Which thou dost glare with. 

Lady Macbeth. Think of this good peers, 

But as a thing of custom : 'tis no other ; 
Only it spoils the pleasure of the time. 

Macbeth. What man dare, I dare : 
Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, 100 

The arm'd rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger; 
Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves 
Shall never tremble : or be alive again, 
And dare me to the desert with thy sword ; 
If trembling I inhabit then, protest me 
The baby of a girl. Hence, horrible shadow ! 
Unreal mockery, hence! [Ghost vanishes. 

Why, so : being gone, 
I am a man again. Pray you, sit still. 

Lady Macbeth. You have displaced the mirth, broke 
the good meeting, 
With most admired disorder. 

Macbeth. Can such things be, no 

And overcome us like a summer's cloud, 
Without our special wonder? You make me strange 
Even to the disposition that I owe, 
When now I think you can behold such sights, 



52 MACBETH. 

And keep the natural ruby of your cheeks, 
When mine is blanch'd with fear. 

Ross. What sights, my lord ? 

Lady M. I pray you, speak not ; he grows worse and 
Question enrages him. At once, good night : [worse ; 
Stand not upon the order of your going, 
But go at once. 

Lennox. Good night; and better health 120 

Attend his majesty! 

Lady Macbeth. A kind good night to all ! 

[Exeunt all but Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. 

Macbeth. It will have blood : they say blood will have 
blood : 
Stones have been known to move and trees to speak; 
Augures and understood relations have 
By maggot-pies and choughs and rooks brought forth 
The secret'st man of blood. What is the night? 

Lady M. Almost at odds with morning, which is which. 

Macbeth. How say'st thou, that Macduff denies his 
At our great bidding? [person 

Lady Macbeth. Did you send to him, sir? 

Macbeth. I hear it by the way, but I will send: 130 
There's not a one of them but in his house 
I keep a servant fee'd. I will to-morrow, 
And betimes I will, to the weird sisters : 
More shall they speak, for now I am bent to know, 
By the worst means, the worst. For mine own good 
All causes shall give way : I am in blood 
Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more, 



ACT III. SCENE V. 53 

Returning were as tedious as go o'er: 
Strange things I have in head that will to hand, 
Which must be acted ere they may be scann'd. 140 

Lady Macbeth. You lack the season of all natures, 

sleep. 
Macbeth. Come, we'll to sleep. My strange and self- 
abuse 
Is the initiate fear that wants hard use : 
We are yet but young in deed. [Exeunt. 

Scene V. A heath. 
Thunder. Enter the three Witches, meeting Hecate. 

Firs* Witch. Why, how now, Hecate! you look 
angerly. 

Hecate. Have I not reason, beldams as you are, 
Saucy and overbold ? How did you dare 
To trade and traffic with Macbeth 
In riddles and affairs of death ; 
And I, the mistress of your charms, 
The close contriver of all harms, 
Was never call'd to bear my part, 
Or show the glory of our art ? 

And, which is worse, all you have done 10 

Hath been but for a wayward son, 
Spiteful and wrathful ; who, as others do 
Loves for his own ends, not for you. 
But make amends now : get you gone, 
And at the pit of Acheron 
Meet me i' the morning: thither he 



54 MACBETH. 

Will come to know his destiny : 

Yonr vessels and your spells provide, 

Your charms and every thing beside. 

I am for the air; this night I'll spend 20 

Unto a dismal and a fatal end : 

Great business must be wrought ere noon : 

Upon the corner of the moon 

There hangs a vaporous drop profound ; 

I'll catch it ere it come to ground : 

And that, distill'd by magic sleights, 

Shall raise such artificial sprites 

As by the strength of their illusion 

Shall draw him on to his confusion : 

He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear 30 

His hopes 'bove wisdom, grace and fear : 

And you all know security 

Is mortals' chiefest enemy. 

[Music and a song within: 'Come away, come away/ 
Hark ! I am call'd ; my little spirit, see, [&c. 

Sits in a foggy cloud, and stays for me. [Exit. 

First Witch. Come, let's make haste ; she'll soon be 
back again. [Exeunt. 

Scene VI. Forres. The palace. 
Enter Lennox and another Lord. 

Lennox. My former speeches have but hit your 
thoughts, 
Which can interpret farther : only I say 
Things have been strangely borne. The gracious Duncan 



ACT III. SCENE VI. 55 

Was pitied of Macbeth : marry, he was dead : 

And the right-valiant Banquo walk'd too late, 

Whom, you may say, if't please you, Fleance kill'd, 

For Fleance fled : men must not walk too late. 

Who cannot want the thought, how monstrous 

It was for Malcolm and for Donalbain 

To kill their gracious father ? damned fact ! 10 

How it did grieve Macbeth ! did he not straight 

In pious rage the two delinquents tear, 

That were the slaves of drink and thralls of sleep? 

Was not that nobly done ? Ay, and wisely too ; 

For 'twould have anger'd any heart alive 

To hear the men deny't. So that, I say, 

He has borne all things well : and I do think 

That had he Duncan's sons under his key — 

As, an't please heaven, he shall not — they should find 

What 'twere to kill a father ; so should Fleance. 20 

But, peace ! for from broad words and 'cause he fail'd 

his presence at the tyrant's feast, I hear 

Macduff lives in disgrace : sir, can you tell 

Where he bestows himself? 

Lord. The son of Duncan, 

From whom this tyrant holds the due of birth, 
Lives in the English court, and is received 
Of the most pious Edward with such grace 
That the malevolence of fortune nothing 
Takes from his high respect: thither Macduff 
Is gone to pray the holy king, upon his aid 30 

To wake Northumberland and warlike Siward ; 



56 MACBETH. 

That by help of these, with Him above 
To ratify the work, we may again 
Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights, 
Free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives, 
Do faithful homage and receive free honors : 
All which we pine for now: and this report 
Hath so exasperate the king that he 
Prepares for some attempt of war. 

Lennox. Sent he to Macduff 

Lord. He did : and with an absolute ' Sir, not I,' 40 
The cloudy messenger turns me his back, 
And hums, as who should say ' You'll rue the time 
That clogs me with this answer.' 

Lennox. And that well might 

Advise him to a caution, to hold what distance 
His wisdom can provide. Some holy angel 
Fly to the court of England and unfold 
His message ere he come, that a swift blessing 
May soon return to this our suffering country 
Under a hand accursed ! 

Lord. I'll send my prayers with him. 

[Exeunt. 

ACT IV. 

Scene I. A cavern. In the middle, a boiling cauldron. 
Thunder. Enter the three Witches. 

First Witch. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd. 
Second Witch. Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.. 



A0T IV. S9ESE I. 57 

Third Witch. Harpier cries, ' 'Tis time, 'tis time.' 

First Witch. Round about the cauldron go ; 
In the poison'd entrails throw. 
Toad, that under cold stone 
Days and nights has thirty one 
Swelter'd venom sleeping got, 
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot. 

All. Double, double toil and trouble ; 10 

Fire burn and cauldron bubble. 

Second Witch. Fillet of a fenny snake, 
In the cauldron boil and bake; 
Eye of newt and toe of frog, 
Wool of bat and tongue of dog, 
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, 
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing, 
For a charm of powerful trouble, 
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. 

All. Double, double toil and trouble; £• 

Fire burn and cauldron bubble. 

Third Witch. Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf, 
Witches' mummy, maw and gulf 
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark, 
Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark, 
Liver of blaspheming Jew, 
Gall of goat, and slips of yew 
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse, 
Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips, 

Finger of birth-strangled babe $o 

Ditch-deliver'd by a drab, 



5§ MACBETH. 

Make the gruel thick and slab: 
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron, 
For the ingredients of our cauldron. 

All. Double, double toil and trouble ; 
Fire burn and cauldron bubble. 

Second Witch. Cool it with a baboon's blood, 
Then the charm is firm and good. 

Enter Hecate to the other three Witches. 

Hecate. O, well done ! I commend your pains ; 
And every one shall share i' the gains : - 40 

And now about the cauldron sing, 

Like elves and fairies in a ring, 

Enchanting all that you put in. 

[Music and a song: ' Black spirits,' &c. Hecate retires. 

Second Witch. By the pricking of my thumbs, 
Something wicked this way comes. 
Open, locks, 
Whoever knocks ! 

Enter Macbeth. 

Macbeth. How now, you secret, black, and midnight 
hags! 
What is't you do? 

All. A deed without a name. 

Macbeth. I conjure you, by that which you profess, 50 
Howe'er you come to know it, answer me : 
Though you untie the winds and let them fight 
Against the churches ; though the yesty waves 
Confound and swallow navigation up; 



ACT IV. SCENE I. 



59 



Though bladed corn be lodged and trees blown down; 

Though castles topple on their warders' heads ; 

Though palaces and pyramids do slope 

Their heads to their foundations ; though the treasure 

Of nature's germens tumble all together, 

Even till destruction sicken; answer me 60 

To what I ask you. 

First Witch, Speak. 

Second Witch. Demand. 

Third Witch. We'll answer. 

First W. Say, if thou'dst rather hear it from our 
mouths, 
Or from our masters ? 

Macbeth. Call 'em ; let me see 'em. 

First Witch. Pour in sow's blood, that hath ea*ten 
Her nine farrow ; grease that's sweaten 
From the murderer's gibbet throw 
Into the flame. 

All, Come, high or low; 

Thyself and office deftly show ! 

Thunder. First Apparition : an armed Head. 

Macbeth, Tell me, thou unknown power, — 
First Witch. He knows thy thought : 

Hear his speech, but say thou nought. 70 

First App. Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware 
Macduff ; 
Beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me : enough. 

[Descends. 



60 MACBETH. 

Macbeth. Whate'er thou art, for thy good caution 
thanks ; 
Thou hast harp'd my fear aright : but one word more, — 

First Witch. He will not be commanded: here's an- 
More potent than the first. [other, 

Thunder. Second Apparition: a bloody Child. 

Second Apparition. Macbeth ! Macbeth ! Macbeth ! 

Macbeth. Had I three ears, I'ld hear thee. 

Second Apparition. Be bloody, bold, and resolute; 
laugh to scorn 
The power of man, for none of woman born 79 

Shall harm Macbeth. [Descends. 

Macbeth. Then live, Macduff: what need I fear of 
thee ? 
But yet I'll make assurance double sure, 
And take a bond of fate : thou shalt not live ; 
That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, 
And sleep in spite of thunder. 

Thunder. Third Apparition : a Child crowned, with a 
tree in his hand. 

What is this, 
That rises like the issue of a king, 
And wears upon his baby-brow the round 
And top of sovereignty? 

All. Listen, but speak not to't. 

Third App. Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care 
Who chafes, who frets, or where conspircrs are : 



ACT IV. SCENE I. 61 

Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until 91 

Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill 

Shall come against him. [Descends. 

Macbeth. That will never be : 

Who can impress the forest, bid the tree 
Unfix his earth-bound root ? Sweet bodements ! good ! 
Rebellion's head, rise never, till the wood 
Of Birnam rise, and our high-placed Macbeth 
Shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath 
To time and mortal custom. Yet my heart 
Throbs to know one thing : tell me, if your art 100 

Can tell so much : shall Banquo's issue ever 
Reign in this kingdom? 

All. Seek to know no more. 

Macbeth. I will be satisfied : deny me this, 
And an eternal curse fall on you ! Let me know. 
Why sinks that cauldron ? and what noise is this ? 

[Hautboys. 

First Witch. Show! 

Second Witch. Show ! 

Third Witch. Show ! 

All. Show his eyes, and grieve his heart; 
Come like shadows, so depart! no 

A show of eight Kings, the last with a glass in his hand; 
Banquo's Ghost following. 

Macbeth. Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo ; 
down ! 
Thy crown does sear mine eye-balls. And thy hair, 
Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first. 



62 MACBETH. 

A third is like the former. Filthy hags ! 
Why do you show me this ? A fourth ! Start, eyes ! 
What, will the line stretch out to the crack of doom ? 
Another yet ! A seventh ! I'll see no more : 
And yet the eighth appears, who bears a glass 
Which shows me many more ; and some I see 
That two-fold balls and treble sceptres carry: 120 

Horrible sight ! Now I see 'tis true ; 
For the blood-bolter'd Banquo smiles upon me, 
And points at them for his. [Apparitions vanish. 

What, is this so ? 

First Witch. Ay, sir, all this is so : but why 
Stands Macbeth thus amazedly? 
Come, sisters, cheer we up his sprites, 
And show the best of our delights : 
I'll charm the air to give a sound, 
While you perform your antic round, 
That this great king may kindly say, 130 

Our duties did his welcome pay. 
[Music. The Witches dance, and then vanish, with Hecate. 

Macbeth. Where are they ? Gone ? / Let this perni- 
cious hour 
Stand aye accursed in the calendar ! 
Come in, without there ! 

Enter Lennox. 

Lennox. What's your grace's will ? 

Macbeth. Saw you the weird sisters? 

Lennox, No, my lord. 



ACT IV. SCENE II. 63 

Macbeth. Came they not by you? 

Lennox. No indeed, my lord. 

Macbeth. Infected be the air whereon they ride ; 
And damn'd all those that trust them ! I did hear 
The galloping of horse : who was't came by? 139 

Lennox. Tis two or three, my lord, that bring you 
word 
Macduff is fled to England. 

Macbeth. Fled to England ! 

Lennox. Ay, my good lord. 

Macbeth. [Aside.'] Time, thou anticipatest my dread 
exploits : 
The flighty purpose never is o'ertook 
Unless the deed go with it : from this moment 
The very firstlings of my heart shall be 
The firstlings of my hand. And even now, 
To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done : 
The castle of Macduff I will surprise ; 
Seize upon Fife; give to the edge o' the sword 150 

Flis wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls 
That trace him in his line. No boasting like a fool ; 
This deed I'll do before this purpose cool. 
But no more sights ! — Where are these gentlemen ? 
Come, bring me where they are. [Exeunt. 

Scene II. Fife. Macduff's castle. 
Enter Lady Macduff, her Son, and Ross. 

Lady Macduff. What had he done, to make him fly 
the land? 



64 MACBETH. 

Ross. You must have patience, madam. 

Lady Macduff. He had none : 

His flight was madness : when our actions do not, 
Our fears do make us traitors, 

Ross. You know not 

Whether it was his wisdom or his fear. 

Lady Macduff. Wisdom! to leave his wife, to leave 
his babes, 
His mansion and his titles in a place 
From whence himself does fly? He loves us not; 
He wants the natural touch : for the poor wren, 
The most diminutive of birds, will fight, 10 

Her young ones in her nest, against the owl. 
All is the Tear and nothing is the love; 
As little is the wisdom, where the flight 
So runs against all reason. 

Ross. My dearest coz, 

I pray you, school yourself : but for your husband, 
He is noble, wise, judicious, and best knows 
The fits o' the season. I dare not speak much further ; 
But cruel are the times, when we are traitors 
And do not know ourselves ; when we hold rumor 
From what we fear, yet know not what we fear, 20 

But float upon a wild and violent sea 
Each way and move. I take my leave of you : 
Shall not be long but I'll be here again : 
Things at the worst will cease, or else climb upward 
To what they were before. My pretty cousir 
Blessing upon you ! 



ACT IV. SCENE II. 65 

Lady Macduff. Father'd he is, and yet he's fatherless. 

Ross. I am so much a fool, should I stay longer, 
It would be my disgrace and your discomfort : 
I take my leave at once. [Exit. 

Lady Macduff. Sirrah, your father's dead : 30 

And what will you do now? How will you live? 

Son. As birds do, mother. 

Lady Macduff. What, with worms and flies? 

Son. With what I get, I mean; and so do they. 

Lady M. Poor bird ! thou 'ldst never fear the net nor 
lime, 
The pitfall nor the gin. 

Son. Why should I, mother? Poor birds they are 
not set for. 
My father is not dead, for all your saying. 

Lady M. Yes, he is dead : how wilt thou do for a 
father ? 

Son. Nay, how will you do for a husband? 

Lady Macduff. Why, I can buy me twenty at any 
market. 40 

Son. Then you'll buy 'em to sell again. 

Lady M. Thou speak'st with all thy wit, and yet, i' 
faith, 
With wit enough for thee. 

Son. Was my father a traitor, mother? 

Lady Macduff. Ay, that he was. 

Son. What is a traitor? 

Lady Macduff. Why, one that swears and lies. 

Son. And be all traitors that do so? 
5 



66 MACBETH. 

Lady Macduff. Every one that does so is a traitor, and 
must be hanged. 50 

Son. And must they all be hanged that swear and lie? 

Lady Macduff. Every one. 

Son. Who must hang them? 

Lady Macduff. Why, the honest men. 

Son. Then the liars and swearers are fools, for there 
are liars and swearers enow to beat the honest men and 
hang up them. 

Lady Macduff. Now, God help thee, poor monkey! 
But how wilt thou do for a father? 59 

Son. If he were dead, yoivld weep for him : if you 
would not, it were a good sign that I should quickly have 
a new father. 

Lady Macduff. Poor prattler, how thou talk'st ' 

Enter a Messenger. 

Messenger. Bless you, fair dame ! I am not to you 
known, 
Though in your state of honor I am perfect. 
I doubt some danger does approach you nearly: 
If you will take a homely man's advice, 
Be not found here ; hence, with your little ones. 
To fright you thus, methinks I am too savage ; 
To do worse to you were fell cruelty, 70 

Which is too nigh your person. Heaven preserve you ! 
I dare abide no longer. [Exit. 

Lady Macduff. Whither should I fly? 

I have done no harm. But I remember now 



ACT IV. SCENE III. 67 

I am in this earthly world, where to do harm 
Is often laudable, to do good sometime 
Accounted dangerous folly : why then, alas, 
Do I put up that womanly defence, 
To say I have done no harm? 

Enter Murderers. 

What are these faces ? 
First Murderer. Where is your husband ? 
Lady Macduff. I hope, in no place so unsanctified 80 
Where such as thou mayst find him. 

First Murderer. He's a traitor. 

Son. Thou liest, thou shag-hair'd villain ! 
First Murderer. What, you egg\ 

[Stabbing him. 
Young fry of treachery ! 

Son. He has kill'd me, mother: 

Run away, I pray you ! [Dies. 

[Exit Lady Macduff, crying 'Murder!' 
Exeunt Murderers, following her. 

Scene III. England. Before the King's palace. 
Enter Malcolm and Macduff. 

Malcolm. Let us seek out some desolate shade, and 
there 
Weep our sad bosoms empty. 

Macduff. Let us rather 

Hold fast the mortal sword, and like good men 
Bestride our down-fall'n birthdom : each new morn 



68 MACBETH. 

New widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows 
Strike heaven on the face, that it resounds 
As if it felt with Scotland and yell'd out 
Like syllable of dolor. 

Malcolm. What I believe, I'll wail, 

What know, believe ; and what I can redress, 
As I shall find the time to friend, I will. 10 

What you have spoke, it may be so perchance. 
This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues, 
Was once thought honest : you have loved him well ; 
He hath not touch'd you yet. I am young ; but something 
You may deserve of him through me, and wisdom 
To offer up a weak poor innocent lamb 
To appease an angry god. 

Macduff. I am not treacherous. 

Malcolm. But Macbeth is. 

A good and virtuous nature may recoil 
In an imperial charge. But I shall crave your pardon ; 20 
That which you are my thoughts cannot transpose: 
Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell : 
Though all things foul would wear the brows of grace, 
Yet grace must still look so. 

Macduff. I have lost my hopes. 

Malcolm. Perchance even there where I did find my 
doubts. 
Why in that rawness left you wife and child, 
Those precious motives, those strong knots of love, 
Without leave-taking? I pray you, 
Let not my jealousies be your dishonors, 



ACT IV. SCENE III. 69 

But mine own safeties. You may be rightly just, 30 

Whatever I shall think. 

Macduff. Bleed, bleed, poor country! 

Great tyranny! lay thou thy basis sure, 
For goodness dare not check thee : wear thou thy 

wrongs ; 
The title is affeer'd. Fare thee well, lord : 
I would not be the villain that thou think'st 
For the whole space that's in the tyrant's grasp, 
And the rich East to boot. 

Malcolm. Be not offended: 

I speak not as in absolute fear of you. 
I think our country sinks beneath the yoke ; 
It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash 40 

Is added to her wounds : I think withal 
There would be hands uplifted in my right; 
And here from gracious England have I offer 
Of goodly thousands : but for all this, 
When I shall tread upon the tyrant's head, 
Or wear it on my sword, yet my poor country 
Shall have more vices than it had before, 
More suffer and more sundry ways than ever, 
By him that shall succeed. 

Macduff. What should he be? 

Malcolm. It is myself I mean : in whom I know 50 
All the particulars of vice so grafted 
That, when they shall be open'd, black Macbeth 
Will seem as pure as snow, and the poor state 
Esteem him as a lamb, being compared 



70 MACBETH. 

With my confineless harms. 

Macduff. Not in the legions 

Of horrid hell can come a devil more damn'd 
In evils to top Macbeth. 

Malcolm. I grant him bloody, 

Luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful, 
Sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin 
That has a name : but there's no bottom, none, 60 

In my voluptuousness: your wives, your daughters, 
Your matrons and your maids, could not fill up 
The cistern of my lust, and my desire 
All continent impediments would o'erbear 
That did oppose my will : better Macbeth 
Than such an one to reign. 

Macduff. Boundless intemperance 

In nature is a tyranny; it hath been 
The untimely emptying of the happy throne 
And fall of many kings. But fear not yet 
To take upon you what is yours : you may 70 

Convey your pleasures in a spacious plenty, 
And yet seem cold, the time you may so hoodwink : 
We have willing dames enough ; there cannot be 
That vulture in you, to devour so many 
As will to greatness dedicate themselves, 
Finding it so inclined. 

Malcolm. With this there grows 

In my most ill-composed affection such 
A stanchless avarice that, were I king, 
I should cut off the nobles for their lands, 



ACT IV. SCENE III. 71 

Desire his jewels and this other's house: 80 

And my more-having would be as a sauce 
To make me hunger more, that I should forge 
Quarrels unjust against the good and loyal, 
Destroying them for wealth. 

Macduff. This avarice 

Sticks deeper, grows with more pernicious root 
Than summer-seeming lust, and it hath been 
The sword of our slain kings: yet do not fear; 
Scotland hath foisons to fill up your will, 
Of your mere own : all these are portable, 
With other graces weiglrd. 90 

Malcolm. But I have none : the king-becoming graces, 
As justice, verity, temperance, stableness, 
Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness, 
Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude, 
I have no relish of them, but abound 
In the division of each several crime, 
Acting it many ways. Nay, had I power, I should 
Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell, 
Uproar the universal peace, confound 
All unity on earth. 

Macduff. O Scotland, Scotland! 100 

Malcolm. If such a one be fit to govern, speak: 
1 am as I have spoken. 

Macduff. Fit to govern! 

No, not to live. O nation miserable, 
With an untitled tyrant bloody-scepter'd, 
When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again, 



72 MACBETH. 

Since that the truest issue of thy throne 

By his own interdiction stands accursed, 

And does blaspheme his breed? Thy royal father 

Was a most sainted king: the queen that bore thee, 

Oftener upon her knees than on her feet, no 

Died every day she lived. Fare thee well ! 

These evils thou repeat'st upon thyself 

Have banish'd me from Scotland. O my breast, 

Thy hope ends here ! 

Malcolm. Macduff, this noble passion, 

Child of integrity, hath from my soul 
Wiped the black scruples, reconciled my thoughts 
To thy good truth and honor. Devilish Macbeth 
By many of these trains hath sought to win me 
Into his power, and modest wisdom plucks me 
From over-credulous haste : but God above 120 

Deal between thee and me ! for even now 
I put myself to thy direction, and 
Unspeak mine own detraction, here abjure 
The taints and blames I laid upon myself, 
For strangers to my nature. I am yet 
Unknown to woman, never was forsworn, 
Scarcely have coveted what was mine own, 
At no time broke my faith, would not betray 
The devil to his fellow, and delight 

No less in truth than life : my first false speaking 130 
Was this upon myself : what I am truly, 
Is thine and my poor country's to command: 
Whither indeed before thy here-approach, 



ACT IV. SCENE III. 73 

Old Siward, with ten thousand warlike men, 
Already at a point, was setting forth. 
Now we'll together; and the chance of goodness 
Be like our warranted quarrel! Why are you silent? 
Macduff. Such welcome and unwelcome things at 
once 
Tis hard to reconcile. 

Enter a Doctor. 

Malcolm. Well ; more anon. Comes the king forth, I 
pray you? 14° 

Doctor. Ay, sir; there are a crew of wretched souls 
That stay his cure : their malady convinces 
The great assay of art; but at his touch, 
Such sanctity hath heaven given his hand, 
They presently amend. 

Malcolm. I thank you, doctor. [Exit Doctor. 

Macduff. What's the disease he means? 

Malcolm. 'Tis call'd the evil : 

A most miraculous work in this good king; 
Which often, since my here-remain in England, 
I have seen him do. How he solicits heaven, 
Himself best knows : but strangely-visited people, 150 
All swoln and ulcerous, pitiful to the eye, 
The mere despair of surgery, he cures, 
Hanging a golden stamp about their necks, 
Put on with holy prayers : and 'tis spoken, 
To the succeeding royalty he leaves 
The healing benediction. With this strange virtue, 



74 MACBETH. 

He hath a heavenly gift of prophecy, 

And sundry blessings hang about his throne 

That speak him full of grace. 

Enter Ross. 

Macduff. See, who conies here? 

Malcolm. My countryman; but yet I know him not. 

Macduff. My ever-gentle cousin, welcome hither. 161 

Malcolm. I know him now. Good God, betimes re- 
move 
The means that makes us strangers ! 

Ross. Sir, amen. 

Macduff. Stands Scotland where it did? 

Ross. Alas, poor country ! 

Almost afraid to know itself. It cannot 
Be call'd our mother, but our grave; where nothing, 
But who knows nothing, is once seen to smile ; 
Where sighs and groans and shrieks that rend the air 
Are made, not mark'd ; where violent sorrow seems 
A modern ecstasy : the dead man's knell 170 

Is there scarce ask'd for who ; and good men's lives 
Expire before the flowers in their caps, 
Dying or ere they sicken. 

Macduff. O relation 

Too nice, and yet too true ! 

Malcolm. What's the newest grief? 

Ross. That of an hour's age doth hiss the speaker ; 
Each minute teems a new one. 

Macduff. How does my wife? 



ACT IV. SCENE III. 75 

Ross. Why, well. 

Mocduff. And all my children? 

Ross. Wdl toa 

Macduff. The tyrant has not batter'd at their peace? 
Ross. No ; they were well at peace when I did leave 

'ern. 
Macduff. Be not a niggard of your speech: how 

goes't? l8 ° 

Ross. When I came hither to transport the tidings, 
Which I have heavily borne, there ran a rumor 
Of many worthy fellows that were out ; 
Which was to my belief witness'd the rather, 
For that I saw the tyrant's power a-foot : 
Now is the time of help ; your eye in Scotland 
Would create soldiers, make our women fight, 
To doff their dire distresses. 

Malcolm. Be't their comfort 

We are coming thither: gracious England hath 
Lent us good Siward and ten thousand men; 190 

An older and a better soldier none 
That Christendom gives out. 

Ross. Would I could answer 

This comfort with the like ! But I have words 
That would be howl'd out in the desert air, 
Where hearing should not latch them. 

Macduff. What concern they? 

The general cause? or is it a fee-grief 
Due to some single breast? 

Ross. No mind that's honest 



76 MACBETH. 

But in it shares some woe; though the main part 
Pertains to you alone. 

Macduff. If it be mine, 

Keep it not from me, quickly let me have it. 200 

Ross. Let not your ears despise my tongue for ever, 
Which shall possess them with the heaviest sound 
That ever yet they heard. 

Macduff. Hum! I guess at it. 

Ross. Your castle is surprised ; your wife and babes 
Savagely slaughter'd : to relate the manner, 
Were, on the quarry of these murder'd deer, 
To add the death of you. 

Malcolm. Merciful heaven ! 

What, man ! ne'er pull your hat upon your brows ; 
Give sorrow words : the grief that does not speak 
Whispers the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break. 210 

Macduff. My children too? 

Ross. Wife, children, servants, all 

That could be found. 

Macduff. And I must be from thence! 

My wife kill'd too? 

Ross. I have said. 

Malcolm. Be comforted : 

Let's make us medicines of our great revenge, 
To cure this deadly grief. 

Macduff. He has no children. All my pretty ones? 
Did you say all ? O hell-kite ! All ? 
What, all my pretty chickens and their dam 
At one fell swoop? 



ACT IV. SCENE III. 



77 



Malcolm. Dispute it like a man. 

Macduff. I shall do so ; 220 

But I must also feel it as a man : 
I cannot but remember such things were, 
That were most precious to me. Did heaven look on, 
And would not take their part ? Sinful Macduff, 
They were all struck for thee ! naught that I am, 
Not for their own demerits, but for mine, 
Fell slaughter on their souls. Heaven rest them now ! 

Malcolm. Be this the whetstone of your sword: let 
grief 
Convert to anger ; blunt not the heart, enrage it. 229 

Macduff. O, I could play the woman with mine eyes, 
And braggart with my tongue! But, gentle heavens, 
Cut short all intermission; front to front 
Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself; 
Within my sword's length set him; if he 'scape, 
Heaven forgive him too ! 

Malcolm. This tune goes manly. 

Come, go we to the king; our power is ready; 
Our lack is nothing but our leave. Macbeth 
Is ripe for shaking, and the powers above 
Put on their instruments. Receive what cheer you may : 
The night is long that never finds the day. 240 

{Exeunt. 



78 MACBETH. 

ACT V. 

Scene I. Diinsinane. Ante-room In the castle. 
Enter a Doctor of Physic and a Waiting-Gentlewoman. 

Doctor. I have two nights watched with you, but can 
perceive no truth in your report. When was it she last 
walked ? 

Gentlewoman. Since his majesty went into the field, I 
have seen her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown 
upon her, unlock her eloset, take forth paper, fold it, 
write upon't, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return 
to bed ; yet all this while in a most fast sleep. 8 

Doctor. A great perturbation in nature to receive at 
once the benefit of sleep and do the effects of watching! 
In this slumbery agitation, besides her walking and other, 
actual performances, what, at any time, have you heard 
her say? 

Gentlewoman. That, sir, which I will not report after 
her. 

Doctor. You may to me, and 'tis most meet you should. 

Gentlewoman. Neither to you nor any one. having no 
witness to confirm my speech. 

Enter Lady Macbeth, with a taper. 

Lo you, here she comes ! This is her very guise ; and, 
upon my life, fast asleep. Observe her ; stand close. 20 
Doctor. How came she by that light? 



ACT V. SCENE I. 79 

Gentlewoman. Why, it stood by her : she has light by 
her continually ; 'tis her command. 

Doctor. You see, her eyes are open. 

Gentlewoman. Ay, but their sense is shut. 

Doctor. What is it she docs now? Look, how she 
rubs her hands. 

Gentlewoman. It is an accustomed action with her, to 
seem thus washing her hands : I have known her con- 
tinue in this a quarter of an hour. 30 

Lady Macbeth. Yet here's a spot. 

Doctor. Hark ! she speaks : I will set down what 
comes from her, to satisfy my remembrance the more 
strongly. 

Lady Macbeth. Out, damned spot ! out, I say ! — 
One : two : why, then 'tis time to do't. — Hell is murky ! 

— Fie, my lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need 
we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to 
account ? — Yet who would have thought the old man 
to have had so much blood in him? 40 

Doctor. Do you mark that? 

Lady Macbeth. The thane of Fife had a wife : where 
is she now ? — What, will these hands ne'er be clean ? 

— No more o' that, my lord, no more o' that : you mar 
all with this starting. 

Doctor. Go to, go to; you have known what you 
should not. 

Gentlewoman. She has spoke what she should not, I 
am sure of that : heaven knows what she has known. 

Lady Macbeth. Here's the smell of the blood still : all 



80 MACBETH. 

the perfumes qf Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. 
Oh, oh, oh ! 52 

Doctor. What a sigh is there ! The heart is sorely 
charged. 

Gentlezvoman. I would not have such a heart in my 
bosom for the dignity of the whole body. 

Doctor. Well, well, well, — 

Gentlezvoman. Pray God it be, sir. 

Doctor. This disease is beyond my practice: yet I 
have known those which have walked in their sleep who 
have died holily in their beds. 61 

Lady Macbeth. Wash your hands, put on your night- 
gown ; look not so pale. — I tell you yet again, Banquo's 
buried ; he cannot come out on's grave. 

Doctor. Even so? 

Lady Macbeth, To bed, to bed! there's knocking at 
the gate: come, come, come, come, give me your hand. 
What's done cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed ! 

[Exit. 

Doctor. Will she go now to bed? 

Gentlezvoman, Directly. 70 

Doctor. Foul whisperings are abroad : unnatural 
deeds 
Do breed unnatural troubles : infected minds 
To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets : 
More needs she the divine than the physician. 
God, God forgive us all ! Look after her ; 
^Remove from her the means of all annoyance, J 
*~And still keep eyes upon her. So, good night: 



ACT V. SCENE II. 81 

My mind she has mated, and amazed my sight. 
I think, but dare not speak. 

Gentlewoman. Good night, good doctor. 

[Exeunt. 

Scene II. The country near Dunsinane. 

Drums and Colors. Enter Menteith, Caithness, 
Angus, Lennox, and Soldiers. 

Mentcith. The English power is near, led on by Mal- 
colm, 
His uncle Siward and the good Macduff: 
Revenges burn in them; for their dear causes 
Would to the bleeding and the grim alarm 
Excite the mortified man. 

Angus. Near Birnam wood 

Shall we well meet them: that way are they coming. 

Caithness. Who knows if Donalbain be with his 
brother ? 

Lennox. For certain, sir, he is not: I have a file 
Of all the gentry : there is Siward's son, 
And many un rough youths, that even now 10 

Protest their first of manhood. 

Menteith. What does the tyrant? 

Caithness. Great Dunsinane he strongly fortifies: 
Some say he's mad ; others that lesser hate him 
Do call it valiant fury : but, for certain, 
He cannot buckle his distemper'd cause 
Within the belt of rule. 

Angus. Now does he feel 

6 



82 MACBETH. 

His secret murders sticking on his hands; 

Now minutely revolts upbraid his faith-breach ; 

Those he commands move only in command, 

Nothing in love : now does he feel his title 20 

Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe 

Upon a dwarfish thief. 

Menteith. Who then shall blame 

His pesterd senses to recoil and start, 
When ail that is within him does condemn 
Itself for being there? 

Caithness. Well, march we on, 

To give obedience where 'tis truly owed : 
Meet we the medicine of the sickly weal, 
And with him pour we in our country's purge 
Each drop of us. 

Lennox. Or so much as it needs, 

To dew the sovereign flower and drown the weeds. 30 

Make we our march towards Birnam. [Exeunt marching. 

Scene III. Dunsinanc. A room in the castle. 
Enter Macbeth, Doctor, and Attendants. 

Macbeth. Bring me no more reports ; let them fly all : 
Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane, 
I cannot taint with fear. What's the boy Malcolm? 
Was he not born of woman? The spirits that know 
All mortal consequences have pronounced me thus : 
Tear not, Macbeth; no man that's born of woman 
Shall e'er have power upon thee.' Then fly, false thanes, 
And mingle with the English epicures: 




ACT V. SCENE III. 83 

The mind I sway by and the heart I bear 

Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear. 10 

Enter a Servant. 

The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon ! 
Where got'st thou that goose look? 

Servant. There is ten thousand — 

Macbeth. Geese, villain? 

Servant. Soldiers, sir. 

Macbeth. Go prick thy face, and over-red thy fear, 
Thou lily-liver'd boy. What soldiers, patch? 
Death of thy soul ! those linen cheeks of thine 
Are counsellors to fear. What soldiers, whey-face? 

Servant. The English force, so please you. 

Macbeth. Take thy face hence. [Exit Servant. 

Seyton ! — I am sick at heart, 
When I behold — Seyton, I say ! — This push 20 

Will cheer me ever, or disseat me now. 
ffjiave lived long enough : ' my way of life 
Is fall'n into the sear, the yellow leaf; 
And that which should accompany old age, 
As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends, 

must not look to have ; but, in their stead, 
Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honor, breath, 
Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not. J 
c eyton ! 

Enter Seyton. 

Seyton. What's your gracious pleasure? 

Macbeth, What news more ? 30 



84 MACBETH. 

Seyton. All is confirm'd, my lord, which was reported. 

Macbeth. I'll fight till from my bones my flesh be 
hack'd. 
Give me my armor. 

Seyton. 'Tis not needed yet. 

Macbeth. I'll put it on. 
Send out moe horses; skirr the country round; 
Hang those that talk of fear. Give me mine armor. 
How does your patient, doctor? 

Doctor. Not so sick, my lord, 

As she is troubled with thick-coming fancies, 
That keep her from her rest. 

Macbeth. Cure her of that. 

LXanst thou not minister to a mind diseased, 40 

Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, 
Raze out the written troubles of the brain, 

/And with some sweet oblivious antidote 
Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff 
Which weighs upon the heart? 7 

Doctor. Therein the patient 

Must minister to himself. 

Macbeth. Throw physic to the dogs, I'll none of it. 
Come, put mine armor on ; give me my staff. 
Seyton, send out. Doctor, the thanes fly from me. 
Come, sir, dispatch. If thou couldst, doctor, cast 50 

The water of my land, find her disease, 
And purge it to a sound and pristine health, 
I would applaud thee to the very echo, 
That should applaud again. Pull 't off, I say. 



ACT V. SCENE IV. 85 

What rhubarb, senna, or what purgative drug, 
Would scour these English hence? Hear'st thou of 
them ? 

Doctor. Ay, my good lord ; your royal preparation 
Makes us hear something. 

Macbeth. Bring it after me. 

I will not be afraid of death and bane 
Till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane. 60 

Doctor. [Aside.] Were I from Dunsinane away and 
clear, 
Profit again should hardly draw me here. [Exeunt. 

Scene IV. Country near Birnam wood. 

Drum and colors. Enter Malcolm, old Siward and his 
Son, Macduff,, Menteith, Caithness, Angus, Len- 
nox, Ross, and Soldiers, marching. 

Malcolm. Cousins, I hope the days are near at hand 
That chambers will be safe. 

Mcnteiih. We doubt it nothing. 

Sizvard. What wood is this before us? 

Mcnteiih. The wood of Birnam. 

Malcolm. Let every soldier hew him down a bough 
And bear't before him : thereby shall we shadow 
The numbers of our host, and make discovery 
Err in report of us. 

Soldiers. It shall be done. 

Sizvard. We learn no other but the confident tyrant 
Keeps still in Dunsinane, and will endure 
Our setting down before 't. 



86 MACBETH. 

Malcolm. Tis his main hope : 10 

For where there is advantage to be given, 
Both more and less have given him the revolt, 
And none serve with him but constrained things 
Whose hearts are absent too. 

Macduff. Let onr just censures 

Attend the true event, and put we on 
Industrious soldiership. 

Siward. The time approaches 

That will with due decision make us know 
What we shall say we have and what we owe. 
Thoughts speculative their unsure hopes relate, 
But certain issue strokes must arbitrate : 20 

Towards which advance the war. [Exeunt marching. 

Scene V. Dunsinane. Within the castle. 

Enter Macbeth, Seyton, and Soldiers, with 

drum and colors. 

Macbeth. Hang out our banners on the outward 
walls ; 
The cry is still ' They come ' : our castle's strength 
Will laugh a siege to scorn : here let them lie 
Till famine and the ague eat them up : 
Were they not forced with those that should be ours, 
We might have met them dareful, beard to beard, 
And beat them backward home. [A cry of women within* 

What is that noise? 

Seyton. It is the cry of women, my good lord. [Exit. 

Macbeth. I have almost forgot the taste of fears : 



ACT V. SCENE V. 87 

The time has been, my senses would have cool'd 10 

To hear a night-shriek, and my fell of hair 

Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir 

As life were in't : I have supp'd full with horrors ; 

Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts, 

Cannot once start me. 

Re-enter Seyton. 

Wherefore was that cry? 

Seyton. The queen, my lord, is dead. 

Macbeth. She should have died hereafter ; 
There would have been a time for such a word. 
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, 
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day 20 

To the last syllable of recorded time, 
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools 
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle ! 
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player 
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage 
And then is heard no more : it is a tale 
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, 
Signifying nothing. 

Enter a Messenger. 

Thou comest to use thy tongue ; thy story quickly. 

Messenger. Gracious my lord, 30 

I should report that which I say I saw, 
But know not how to do it. 

Macbeth. Well, say, sir. 

Messenger. As I did stand my watch upon the hill, 



88 MACBETH. 

1 
I look'd toward Birnam, and anon, methought, 
The wood began to move. 

Macbeth. Liar and slave! 

Messenger. Let me endure your wrath, if 't be not so : 
Within this three mile may you see it coming; 
I say, a moving grove. 

Macbeth. If thou speak'st false, 

Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive 
Till famine cling thee : if thy speech be sooth, 40 

I care not if thou dost for me as much. 
I pull in resolution and begin 
To doubt the equivocation of the fiend 
That lies like truth ; ' Fear not, till Birnam wood 
Do come to Dunsinane : ' and now a wood 
Comes toward Dunsinane. Arm, arm, and out ! 
If this which he avouches does appear, 
There is nor flying hence nor tarrying here. 
I 'gin to be aweary of the sun, 

And wish the estate o' the world were now undone. 50 
Ring the alarum-bell ! Blow, wind ! come, wrack ! 
At least we'll die with harness on our back. [Exeunt. 

Scene VI. Dunsinane. Before the castle. 

Drum and colors. Enter Malcolm, old Si ward, Mac- 
duff, and their Army, with boughs. 

Malcolm. Now near enough : your leavy screens 
throw down, 
And show like those vou are. You, worthy uncle, 



ACT V. SCENE VII. 89 

Shall with my cousin, your right-noble son, 
Lead our first battle: worthy Macduff and we 
Shall take upon's what else remains to do, 
According to our order. 

Siward. Fare you well. 

Do we but find the tyrant's power to-night, 
Let us be beaten, if we cannot fight. 

Macd. Make all our trumpets speak; give them all 
breath, 
Those clamorous harbingers of blood and death. [Exeunt. 
Scene VII. Another part of the Held. 
Alarums. Enter Macbeth. 

Macbeth. They have tied me to a stake ; I cannot fly, 
But, bear-like, I must fight the course. What's he 
That was not born of woman ? Such a one 
Am I to fear, or none. 

Enter young Siward. 
Young Sizu. What is thy name? 

Macbeth. Thou'lt be afraid to hear it. 

Young Sizu. No ; though thou call'st thyself a hotter 
name 
Than any is in hell. 

Macbeth. My name's Macbeth. 

Young Sizu. The devil himself could not pronounce a 
title 
More hateful to mine ear. 

Macbeth. No, nor more fearful. 9 



9 o MACBETH. 

Young Siw. Thou liest, abhorred tyrant; with my 
sword 
I'll prove the lie thou speak' St. 

[They fight, and young Siward is slain. 
Macbeth. Thou wast burn of woman. 

But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, 
Brandish' d by man that's of a woman born. [Exit. 

Alarums. Enter Macduff. 

Macduff. That way the noise is. Tyrant, show thy 
face! 
If thou be'st slain and with no stroke of mine, 
My wife and children's ghosts will haunt me still. 
I cannot strike at wretched kerns, whose arms 
Are hired to bear their staves : either thou, .Macbeth, 
Or else my sword with an unbatter'd edge 
1 sheathe again undeeded. There thou shouldst be ; 20 
By this great clatter, one of greatest note 
Seems bruited. Let me find him, fortune ! 
And more I beg not. [Exit. Alarums. 

Enter Malcolm and old Siward. 

Siward. This way, my lord ; the castle's gently ren- 
der'd : 
The tyrant's people on both sides do fight ; 
The noble thanes do bravely in the war; 
The day almost itself professes yours, 
And little is to do. 

Malcolm. We have met with foes 



ACT V. SCENE VIII. 91 

That strike beside us. 

Siward. Enter, sir, the castle. 

[Exeunt. Alarum. 

Scene VIII. Another part of the field. 
Enter Macbeth. 

Macbeth. Why should I play the Roman fool, and die 
On mine own sword ? whiles I see lives, the gashes 
Do better upon them. 

Enter Macduff. 

Macduff. Turn, hell-hound, turn ! 

Macbeth. Of all men else I have avoided thee : 
But get thee back ; my soul is too much charged 
With blood of thine already. 

Macduff. I have no words: 

My voice is in my sword: thou bloodier villain 
Than terms can give thee out ! [Thcv fight. 

Macbeth. Thou losest labor : 

As easy mayst thou the intrenchant air 
With thy keen sword impress as make me bleed : 10 

Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests ; 
I bear a charmed life, which must not yield 
To one of woman born. 

Macduff. Despair thy charm ; 

And let the angel whom thou still hast served 
Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb 
Untimely ripp'd. 

MacbetJi. Accursed be that tongue that tells me so, 
For it hath cow'd my better part of man ! 



9 2 MACBETH. 

And be these juggling fiends no more believed, 

That palter with us in a double sense ; 20 

That keep the word of promise to our ear, 

And break it to our hope. I'll not fight with thee. 

Macduff. Then yield thee, coward, 
And live to be the show and gaze o' the time : 
We'll have thee, as our rarer monsters are, 
Painted upon a pole, and underwrit, 
' Here may you see the tyrant.' 

Macbeth. I will not yield, 

To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet 
And to be baited with the rabble's curse. 
Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane, 30 

And thou opposed, being of no woman born, 
Yet I will try the last. Before my body 
I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff, 
And damn'd be him that first cries ' Hold, enough ! ' 

[Exeunt, fighting. Alarums. 

Retreat. Flourish. Enter, with drum and colors, Mal- 
colm, old Siward, Ross, the other Thanes, and 
Soldiers. 

Malcolm. I would the friends we miss were safe ar- 
rived. 

Siward. Some must go off: and yet, by these I see, 
So great a day as this is cheaply bought. 

Malcolm. Macduff is missing, and your noble son. 

Ross. Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier's debt : 
He only lived but till he was a man ; 40 



ACT V. SCENE VIII. 93 

The which no sooner had his prowess confirm'd 
In the unshrinking station where he fought, 
But like a man he died. 

Siward. Then he is dead? 

Ross. Ay, and brought off the field: your cause of 
sorrow 
Must not be measured by his worth, for then 
It hath no end. 

Siward. Had he his hurts before? 

Ross. Ay, on the front. 

Sizuard. Why then, God's soldier be he ! 

Had I as many sons as I have hairs, 
I would not wish them to a fairer deafti: 
And so his knell is knoll'd. 

Malcolm. He's worth more sorrow, 50 

And that I'll spend for him. 

Siward. He's worth no more : 

They say he parted well and paid his score: 
AM so God be with him ! Here comes newer comfort. 

Re-enter Macduff, with Macbeth's head. 

Macduff. Hail, king! for so thou art: behold, where 
stands 
The usurper's cursed head : the time is free : 
I see thee compass'd with thy kingdom's pearl, 
That speak my salutation in their minds; 
Whose voices I desire aloud with mine: 
Hail, King of Scotland ! 

All. Hail, King of Scotland ! [Flourish. 

Malcolm. We shall not spend a large expense of time 



94 MACBETH. 

Before we reckon with your several loves, 61 

And make us even with you. My thanes and kinsmen, 

Henceforth be earls, the first that ever Scotland 

In such an honor named. What's more to do, 

Which would be planted newly with the time, 

As calling home our exiled friends abroad 

That iled the snares of watchful tyranny ; 

Producing forth the cruel ministers 

Of this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen, 

Who, as 'tis thpught, by self and violent hands 70 

Took off her life ; this, and what needful else 

That calls upon us, by the grace of Grace 

We will perform*m measure, time and place : 

So, thanks to all at once and to each one, 

Whom we invite to see us crown'd at Scone. 

[Flourish. Exeunt. 



NOTES AND QUESTIONS, 



ACT I. 



Scene I. 



Suggestion of Scene. A moorland of unspeakable desolation, 
near Forres, Scotland. The declining sun is obscured by thick 
clouds. There is but light enough to reveal the stretches of wet 
heather and a pool of dark water, with a clump of whins at its edge. 
The cross lightning splits the sky, and the thunder follows, peal 
on peal. Into this tumult of nature come three weird women, " in 
strange and wild apparell, resembling creatures of elder world." 
They come mysteriously from the air, as if born from the fury 
of the elements ; they hold hands, and circle about in a strange 
dance, adding their unearthly, monotonous cries to the loud voices 
of the sky. Between volleys of thunder we hear them speak their 
short, abrupt lines. No sooner is the word " Macbeth " pronounced 
than the long-drawn cry of a cat is heard across the moorland; the 
first witch waves her hand, and cries, " I come, Graymalkin." The 
frogs call in their quavering voices from the distant bogs ; " Paddock 
calls," says the second witch, thus signifying, like her sister, her 
connection with the invisible world. Again they circle, and utter 
in concert their ominous couplet ; a peal of thunder follows, and the 
weird women are gone. 



i. How should "again" be pronounced? Most actors make a 
mistake in the very first line. 

2. "Or" might be changed to and; why? 

3. The line contains an example of onomatopoeia ; explain. 

4. Why does the line awaken interest ? 

5. Show that the line indicates the swiftness with which the play 
is to progress. 

6. How should "heath " be pronounced? 

8. " Graymalkin," a gray cat. 

9. " Paddock," a toad. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. Why is Macbeth mentioned in the 
scene? 2. Sometimes there is an interruption in line 7. After "with" 
the first witch says, "Whom," in a long-drawn tone; and the second 
witch replies, " Macbeth." Why is this done? 3. The play was 
evidently written rapidly, under strong inspiration ; and it is likely 

95 



96 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

that some other hand than Shakespeare's wrote some of it. One 
critic (Seymour) says, " The witches seem to be introduced for no 
other purpose than to tell us they are to meet again ; and as I can- 
not discover any advantage resulting from such anticipation, but 
on the contrary, think it injurious, I conclude the scene is not 
genuine." Prove this to be a wrong judgment. 4. Why has the 
scene so much dramatic force? Give several particulars. 5. The 
weird women in Sir Henry Irving's presentation of the play are 
men ; is this good or bad taste ? 6. Sometimes the weird women are 
dressed in short, ragged skirts, carry crooked sticks from the forest 
as staves, and are, in short, repulsive old hags ; should they be so 
represented? 7. Should their movements be quick or slow, angular 
or graceful ? By what movements can they give the air of mystery 
and of the supernatural ? 8. Notice as the play progresses, that the 
word " witch " appears in the stage directions, but only once or 
twice in the lines ; here is a confusion that must be explained, if 
possible. What power have weird women that witches have not? 
(See Introduction.) 9, Coleridge says, " The true reason for the 
first appearance of the witches is to strike the keynote of the whole 
drama." What is the keynote? 10. What characteristic of the 
weird women is shown in the last two lines? What do these lines 
mean? 11. Why are witches usually represented as associated with 
such creatures as cats and toads? 12. What is the meter of this 
scene ? Why is it not blank verse like the main body of the play ? 

Scene II. 

Suggestion of Scene. A military camp near Forres. In the fore- 
ground at the left is the king's tent ; before its entrance two spears 
are stuck into the ground, and at one side stands a rude chair. 
About the rest of the stage, the soldiers are seated on the ground in 
little groups, playing games. Others stand, talking earnestly to- 
gether. They are clad in ancient Highland costume — the bonnet, 
the belted plaid, perhaps a short coat, the sporran, and stockings 
reaching above the calf of the leg, leaving the knee bare. An 
officer wearing a shirt of ring mail, and carrying a battle-ax over 
his shoulder, stands near the king's tent. A soldier, fully armed, 
paces to and fro on guard. The quiet of the scene is suddenly 
broken by the blare of a trumpet. The soldiers spring to their feet, 
seize their arms — battle-axes, spears, claymores, dirks, and small, 
round targets covered with bull's hide and studded with heavy nails. 
Loud words of command are heard ; the soldiers form lines, as if 
expecting attack. The king, his sons Malcolm and Donalbain, 
accompanied by Lennox and others, come hurriedly out of the tent. 
Over his Highland costume the king wears a long robe ; his gray 
hair hangs down over his shoulders. The alarm seems causeless, 



\y 



ACT I. SCENE II. 97 

for there enter only four men, of Duncan's army, carrying a wounded 
sargeant, whom Malcolm at once recognizes, and who raises himself 
on his elbow, and with difficulty addresses his king. 

i. It has been remarked that the word " bloody" appears more 
frequently in this play than in any other of Shakespeare's. 

3. The third line is divided between Duncan and Malcolm; 
scan it, giving three syllables to " sargeant." 

5. Scan. Do you prefer to consider a short syllable lacking or 
to make two syllables of " Hail " ? 

6. Show that " broil " has changed somewhat in meaning since 
Shakespeare's time. 

7. Pope inserted "long" after "doubtful"; why? 

9. " Choke " formerly had the sense of drown. The " spent 
swimmers " are two who are swimming a race ; as they near the 
goal, they seize one another, each striving to retard his rival ; and 
thus they endanger their lives. 

10. The sense may be made clearer by supplying end, after 
" that." 

13. " Of," with. "Kerns" were light-armed troops, carrying 
darts and daggers ; they are described as " the very drosse and 
scum of the country, a generation of villaines not worthy to live." 
" Gallowglasses " were heavy-armed troops, clad in mail, and carry- 
ing battle-axes and swords. 

14. " Quarrel " has been much discussed. Perhaps it means the 
"harvest of spoil" (Strutt) which the rebel was reaping in the 
battle. 

15. " Show'd," appeared. "All's," all was. 

18. Scan. 

19. "Minion," darling. Notice the force of "carved out his 
passage." 

21. Shaking hands is a ceremony of parting. The meaning is, 
Macbeth did not leave him until, etc. 

22. " Nave," navel ; " chaps," jaws, or the flesh on the jaws. 
There is probably a mistake here, as the upward stroke described 
is hardly possible. " Nape " has been suggested for " nave." 

24. Duncan's and Macbeth's mothers were sisters. 

25-28. The meaning is, — As unwelcome storms sometimes come 
from the east, the same direction whence the welcome sunrise 
appears, so from victory came defeat. 

30. Would " skipping " as suitably describe the motion of " gal- 
lowglasses "? 

31. " Surveying vantage." perceiving his advantage. 

34. " Captains ; " Shakespeare probably wrote it capitaynes. 
Scan. 

36. " Sooth," truth. 

37. There is prolepsis (anticipation) in this line. The cannon 
were not charged with " cracks," but with that which made the 



98 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

" cracks." Another example of the figure is, — He married a wife. 
Of course, she was not a wife until he married her. 

38. Explain the force of the line. It has been conjectured that 
this scene is not all Shakespeare's. Compare the line with Act IV, 
Scene I, line 82. What does the comparison indicate? 

40. " Memorize," make memorable. " Golgotha," the place of 
the skull. See Mark. xv. 22. 

41. Why a short line? 

43. " So," as, as we would say. 

45. "Thane," a title ranking immediately below that of earl. 

46. What figure in the line ? 

47. Ross kneels as he says, " God save the king." 

49. " Flout," mock. The idea is not clear. Perhaps it means, — 
The Norweyan banners, having been taken by our troops, flap about 
in the wind, as if mocking the sky, and seem to cool the ardor of 
our people after their victory. The objection to the explanation is 
that the banners of a conquered army would not mock anything. If 
the sentence were in the past tense, it would mean, — The Norweyan 
banners seemed to mock even the sky, and struck fear into the 
hearts of our men. In this case the sense would be more apparent. 

53. To whom was the conflict "dismal"? Why? 

54. Bellona was the Roman goddess of war. Who is meant by 
her "bridegroom"? " Lapp'd in proof," clad in armor. 

55. The line probably means, — faced him as an equal in arms and 
strength. 

56. The line probably means that the two men were armed alike, 
weapon for weapon. 

57. Whr.t is the sense of " lavish "? 

58. " That," in the sense of so that. 

59. " Composition," terms of peace. 

61. " Saint Colme's Inch," an island in the Firth of Forth. The 
modern name is Inchcolm. 

62. The line contains an anachronism. The dollar (Thaler) 
was first coined in Bohemia, in the Valley (Thai) of St. Joachim, 
about 1 5 18. 

64. " Bosom," close, confidential. " Present," immediate. 

66, 67. The scene ends with a rime ; why ? 

Questions on the Scene. 1. What that is necessary to the story 
does the scene set forth? 2. Is it a scene of action or of narration? 
3. Is it strong from a dramatic standpoint? 4. Does it tax the 
powers of the actors? 5. What does the scene reveal concerning 
the character of Macbeth ? 6. Is anything to be inferred positively 
concerning the character of Duncan from the fact that he was not 
in the battle? 7. It is conjectured that after Shakespeare sold his 
interest in the Globe Theater, and with it his manuscripts, some 
other writer changed them in parts. " Macbeth " probably suffered 
more in this way than any other play ; and the present scene is 



ACT I. SCENE III. 99 

said to be one of those that have been changed. One reason is 
that parts of it are bombastic. Point out these parts. Another rea- 
son is the defective meter. Point out these defects. Another 
reason is that lines 52 and 53 contradict lines 72, 73, and 112, in 
Scene III. Explain. A final reason is that Shakespeare would not 
have committed the absurdity of sending a wounded soldier to 
carry the news of battle. 8. On the whole, is the scene a good 
one from a dramatic and a poetic standpoint? 

Scene III. 

Suggestion of Scene. The same as that of Scene I. The storm 
is over, and the obscured sun has sunk low towards his setting. 
As the three sisters engage in their weird conversation, the sound of 
a drum is heard near by on the moorland, and the loud voices of 
officers giving commands. A line of soldiers passes across the 
stage for a few minutes, when Macbeth and Banquo, clad in hel- 
mets and mail, and carrying battle-axes, enter, walking beside their 
troops. As they reach the center of the stage, the clouds part, and 
the sun shines in one blaze of parting glory. Macbeth pauses to 
observe, and Banquo stops near him. The soldiers pass on ; the two 
generals remain behind. Macbeth takes off his helmet, shakes the 
rain drops from it, strikes his shirt of mail to relieve its netted 
links of the water : then, turning to the front, looks up at the sky, 
and utters his first line, — 

" So foul and fair a day I have not seen." 

Weary of the long march, Banquo asks how far it is to Forres, but 
suddenly perceiving the weird women, puts his hand on his com- 
panion's shoulder, directs his attention to them, and asks, " What 
are these, etc. ? " Macbeth has now met the strange creatures 
whose fatal influence over him has already begun. 

2. Witches were supposed to have a great aversion to swine, and 
frequently killed them by their magic art in return for insults from 
their owners. 

6. " 'Aroint.' " Many conjectures, some of them wide of the 
mark, doubtless, have been made concerning this word. Nares 
says, "A word of aversion to a witch or infernal spirit. ... A lady 
well acquainted with the dialect of Cheshire informed me that it is 
still in use there. For example, if a cow press too close to the 
maid who is milking her, she will give the animal a push, saying 
at the same time, ' Roint thee!' by which she means, Stand off. 
To this the cow is so well used that even the word is sufficient, the 
cow being in this instance more learned than the commentators 
on Sh." " Rump-fed," probably fed on the best parts of the beef ; 
luxurious. " Ronyon," a disrespectful term for a woman. 

7. In a book of Shakespeare's time is an account of a ship called, 
the Tiger going on a voyage to Aleppo. 

LofC. 



ioo NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

9, 10. It was a common belief that a witch could turn herself 
into any animal, but she would lack the tail. The witch in the play 
threatens to turn herself into a rat and gnaw through the sides of 
the ship, a thing that the common rat is said not to do. 

14. " Other," others. 

17. " Shipman's card," the card on which the points of the com- 
pass are marked. 

-20. A " pent-house " is a sloping roof or shed over a door or 
a window. The " pent-house lid " is the eyelid. 

21. " Forbid," cursed. 

22. " Se'nnights," seven nights, weeks. 

23. Witches caused people to " dwindle " by melting waxen 
images of them before the fire. 

32. In the folics the word " weyward " appeared instead of 
" weird ; " but Theobald, on consulting Holinshed, from whom Shakes- 
peare took most of the material of the play, found that the three 
women were called " the Weird Sisters, that is, as ye would say, 
the Goddesses of Destiny." He concluded, therefore, that the copy- 
ists had made a mistake. These strange creatures were doubtless 
the same as the Scandinavian Norns, or Fates. The word weird 
comes from the Anglo-Saxon wyrd, fate. The Norns were said 
to sit under the great ash called Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life, near 
the Urdar fountain, where they wove the web of Fate. Their names 
were Urd (the past), Verdandi (the present), and Skuld (the fu- 
ture). It was said their purpose was to warn the gods of evil to 
come. The following is from Henderson's translation of the 
Voluspa : — 

" Thence come the maids, 
Who much do know; 
Three from the hall 
Beneath the tree; 
One they named Was, 
And Being next, 
The third Shall Be." 

Evidently here were three god-like beings, full of power and mys- 
tery ; very unlike the vulgar 'witches who killed swine and worked 
mischief upon an unoffending sailor. Shakespeare seems to have 
mingled the qualities of the two. 

33. " Posters," couriers. 

38. " Foul and fair ; " note the antithesis. The whole play is a 
war between good and evil. 

43. " That man may question," that man may ask questions of, 
speak to. That is, are you flesh and blood, or mere spirits ? 

44. " Choppy," the same as chappy. 
53. " Fantastical," imaginary. 



ACT I. SCENE HI. 10 1 

54. " Show," appear. 

55, 56. A double construction; rearranged it stands thus, — pres- 
ent grace of noble having and great prediction of royal hope. 

57. Toward the end of the seventeenth century Sir William 
Davenant rewrote " Macbeth," and endeavored to improve it. Thus, 
" That he seems rapt withal," he changed to, " With which he seems 
surpriz'd." Was the change an improvement? Give reason. 

60, 61. Another double construction; rearrange. 

65, 66, 67. More antitheses ; the play is full of them. Have 
they not the effect to heighten the mystery? 

69. This line is a repetition of the preceding. What is the effect 
of it? Why is the order changed? 

70. What is the sense of " imperfect " ? 

71. " Sinel " was Macbeth's father. 

72. 73. Compare the statement made in Scene II, 52 and 53. Is 
there a contradiction ? 

77. What word in the line is especially picturesque? 

80. Why is " vanish'd " a better word here than any other, as 
disappeared ? 

81. " Corporal," corporeal. What is the emphatic word? 

82. Macbeth is thinking of the breath on a frosty day. 
84. " Insane root," probably henbane. 

92, 93. " His wonders etc." The meaning is that there is a 
contention in the king's mind : he wishes to praise Macbeth, but his 
wonder at Macbeth's deed is so great that he is speechless. 

97. What were the " strange images of death " that Macbeth 
made? In some editions the word " tale " appears instead of " hail." 
" Tale " means counting ; it has an interesting etymology. Milton 
uses it in this sense in his " L' Allegro : " — 

"And every shepherd tell his tale 
Under the haw t home in the dale." 

100. What is the emphatic word? 

104. "Earnest," promise; money given at the conclusion of a 
bargain as assurance of good faith. 

106. "Addition," title. There is reason to believe that Shake- 
speare intended Ross to put upon Macbeth a robe as significant of 
his new title. In this case Macbeth speaks literally in lines 108 
and 109. 

112. "Line," support. 

113. See Scene II, lines 52 and 53; and this scene, lines 72 and 
73. The comparison will show supposed evidence that some other 
writer rewrote some of the play after Shakespeare sold his interest 
in the theater and went back to Stratford. 

113. "Vantage," advantage, opportunity. 

120. " Trusted home," trusted wholly. 

121. What word in the line has the most meaning? 



102 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

124. Who are the " instruments of darkness"? 

125. What are the " honest trifles "? 

126. For " in deepest consequence," Davenant wrote, " in things 
of high concern." Show that " consequence " has more meaning 
than " concern." 

127-129. The meaning is, — Two prophecies, which lead to the 
greatest one, that I shall be king, have been told. Shakespeare here, 
uses a figure taken from his own profession ; explain. 

130. " Soliciting," incitement of ambition. Macbeth seems to 
know that the weird women are tempting him. 

131. Are " ill " and " good " used in the sense of untruthful and 
truthful, or of wicked and righteous ? 

132. " Earnest," promise. 

134. "Suggestion," temptation. What is the temptation? 

135. " Unfix my hair," make it stand on end. 

136. " Seated," firmly fixed. 

137. " Use," custom. 

137-142. The meaning is, — The fear that one feels at the moment 
of doing a crime is actually less than that he feels when he imagines 
himself doing the crime. My mind is now so wrought up over the 
murder that is as yet only in my imagination, that all my faculties 
are violently disturbed, that I lose the power of action, and that 
I see nothing but the horrible picture that is before my eyes. 

145. " Strange," new. 

147. The meaning is that time will bring the matter to a con- 
clusion, however much Macbeth may be puzzled about it at present. 

148. " Stay," wait. 

149. " Favor," pardon. 

149, 150. For " my dull brain etc." Davenant wrote, " I was 
reflecting upon past transactions." There could scarcely be a better 
proof that it is folly to tamper with Shakespeare's lines. 

153. To whom does Macbeth speak here? 

154. There is personification in the line; explain. 
Shakespeare took most of the play from Holinshed's Chronicle. 

By studying the following quotation the pupil will see how the poet 
put dramatic life into the story : — 

" It fortuned as Makbeth and Banquho iournied towards Fores, 
where the king then laie, they went sporting by the waie togither 
without other companie, saue onelie themselues, passing thorough the 
woods and fields, when suddenlie in the middest of a laund, there 
met them three women in strange and wild apparell, resembling- 
creatures of elder world, whome when they attentiuelie beheld, woon- 
dering much at the sight, the first of them spake and said ; All haile 
Makbeth, thane of Glammis (for he had latelie entered into that 
dignitie and office by the death of his father Sinell.) The second 
of them said ; Haile Makbeth thane of Cawder. But the third 
said ; All haile Makbeth that heereafter shalt be king of Scotland. 



ACT I. SCENE III. 103 

" Then Banquho ; What manner of women (saith he) are 
you, that seeme so little favourable vnto me, whereas to my fellow 
heere, besides high offices, ye assigne also the kingdome, appoint- 
ing foorth nothing for me at all? Yes (saith the first of them) we 
promise greater benefits vnto thee, than vnto him, for he shall reigne 
in deed, but with an vnluckie end : neither shall he leaue anie issue 
behind him to succeed in his place, where contrarilie thou in deed 
shalt not reigne at all, but of thee those shall be borne which shall 
gouern the Scotish kingdome by long order of continuall descent. 
Herewith the foresaid women vanished immediatlie out of their 
sight. This was reputed at the first but some vaine fantasticall 
illusion by Mackbeth and Banquho, insomuch that Banquho would 
call Mackbeth in iest, king of Scotland ; and Mackbeth againe would 
call him in sport likewise, the father of manie kings. But afterward 
the common opinion was, that these women were either the weird 
sisters, that is (as ye would say) the . goddesses of destinie, or 
else some nymphs or feiries, indued with knowledge of prophesie 
by their necromanticall science, bicause euerie thing came to passe 
as they had spoken." 

Questions on the Scene. 1. Account for the great importance 
of the scene. 2. What does it gain from being preceded by a scene 
in which little happens? 3. Inasmuch as we are here made pretty 
well acquainted with the weird women, might the first scene be 
dispensed with? 4. For what reason did the weird women intend 
to do so much mischief to the " master o' the Tiger"? 5. Does this 
show that they were workers of good or of evil ? 6. The first witch 
has a " pilot's thumb " to conjure with ; would the thumb of a man 
of some other occupation, as a baker or a farmer, have done as 
well ? 7. What feeling does the sound of the drum awaken in the 
audience ? 8. Explain fully the action of the weird women as they 
repeat the lines beginning with line 32. 9. What is the signifi- 
cance of the fact that Macbeth's first speech contains an expression 
that the weird women used in the first scene? 10. Does this speech 
refer to the weather or to the battle, or both? 11. What hints of 
the action of the weird women in Banquo's first speech? 12. Ex- 
plain, in the same speech, Banquo's sudden change from the second 
to the third person. 13. With what tone and manner does Mac- 
beth address the weird women (line 47)? 14. As each witch speaks 
in turn, she points her long arm at Macbeth, and for a moment all 
three stand so. Show that this heightens the effect. 15. Where 
may an effective pause be made in line 50? 16. In line 51, 
Banquo asks Macbeth why he " starts " at so pleasant a prophecy ; 
why did he start? 17. Would it not be good "stage business" for 
Banquo to touch one of the weird women as he asks whether they 
are "fantastical"? 18. What words of Banquo throw light on 
the manner in which the weird women should be represented? 19. 
In- lines 62 to 67 the long arms go out to Banquo. What gestures 



104 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

accompany the next two lines? 20. Was Macbeth truthful in saying 
that it did not stand " within the prospect of belief " for him to be 
king ? Did he have any reason for being untruthful about the 
matter? 21. Are the weird women implanting an evil intent in 
Macbeth's mind, or are they working on such an intent that is 
already there ? Do they provide the inner as well as the outer 
influence that leads him on to his destruction ? 22. Why did the 
poet select this particular scene in which to inflame Macbeth with 
ambition for the crown ? 23. What are Macbeth's attitude and tone 
as he says, " Would they had stay'd " (line 82) ? 24. What other 
speeches require much the same tone? 25. Show the difference be- 
tween the effect of the prophecies upon Macbeth and upon Banquo. 
26. Where in the scene is a distinct warning given to Macbeth to 
beware the weird women ? 27. Show where in the scene Macbeth 
hopes to get the crown without the commission of a crime. 28. 
Is there anything to show whether Macbeth was a man of strong 
or of weak imagination ? 29. Fancy Macbeth's action as he speaks 
line 149. 30. What difference does the scene reveal between the 
character of Macbeth and that of Banquo? 31. Is Macbeth a " free 
moral agent " in this scene ? Can he overcome the temptation to 
get the crown by fair means or foul ? or is he in the grip of inner 
and outer forces from which he cannot escape? 32. Pick out the 
most effective words, phrases, and figures in the scene. 33. Com- 
pare the figure in lines 58 and 59 with that in Scene II, lines 25 
and 28 inclusive. Which is the better? Why? 34. Compare the 
scene with the quotation from Holinshed, given at the end of the 
notes, and consider why the former is superior to the latter. 

Scene IV. 

Suggestion of Scene. A cold and somewhat bare room in the 
castle at Forres. The rough stone walls are blackened with the 
smoke which rises from a reredos in the middle of the room. Near 
at hand' sits the king in a great state chair, wearing robe and crown ; 
about him, clad in their ancient Highland costumes, are his sons and 
other attendants. 

2-1 1. Steevens says that the description of the death of the 
Thane of Cawdor corresponds exactly with that of the Earl of 
Essex, the dearest friend of Southampton, Shakespeare's patron. 
9. " Studied " is a stage term ; explain. 

10. " Owed," owned. 

17. Insert too after " is." 

18-20. The king means that he wishes he had the means to give 
Macbeth a sufficient portion of payment for his services. 

21. The line means that more is due Macbeth than all the king's 
entire possessions would pay, 



ACT I. SCENE IV. 105 

22, 23. Macbeth means that he gets enough reward in the mere 
doing of services for the king. 

24, 25. Another double construction ; rearrange. 

26, 27. The meaning probably is, — which are doing but their 
expected duty when they do everything that is loyal to you. 

34. " Wanton," unrestrained. 

35. "Drops of sorrow;" what are these? 

39. Scotland was not always a hereditary kingdom. The fol- 
lowing quotation from Holinshed explains : — 

" But shortlie after that it chanced that king Duncane, hauing 
two sonnes by his wife which was the daughter of Siward earle of 
Northumberland, he made the elder of them called Malcolme prince 
of Cumberland, as it were thereby to appoint him his successor in 
the kingdome, immediatlie after his decease. Mackbeth sore troubled 
herewith, for that he saw by this means his hope sore hindered 
(where, by the old lawes of the realme, the ordinance was, that if 
he that should succeed were not of able age to take the charge vpon 
himselfe, he that was next of bloud vnto him should be admitted) 
he began to take counsell how he might vsurpe the kingdome by 
force, hauing a just quarrel so to doo (as he tooke the matter) 
for that Duncane did what in him lay to defraud him of all maner 
of title and claime, which he might in time to come, pretend vnto 
the crowne." 

42. After " hence," zve go is understood. 

44. A polite but hypocritical speech, such as Macbeth has used 
before. He means that although he is going home to rest after 
the battle, yet it would be uneasy rest if he should not use it for 
his king. 

45. " Harbinger," an official who went ahead of the king to 
provide lodging. He was accompanied by an officer called the 
purveyor, whose duty it was to buy food for the royal party. See 
Scene VI of this act, line 22. 

48, 50. See note, and quotation from Holinshed, line 39. 
50. Does the word " stars " indicate that this scene occurs at 
night ? 

52. Supply let at the beginning of the line. 
58." It " is a mark of affection. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. What necessary step of the story 
appears in the scene ? 2. In what way is the curiosity of the 
audience bound over to a later scene? 3. Compare the scene and 
the two preceding it with respect to dramatic force. 4. Describe 
the greeting of the king and the two generals, Macbeth and Banquo. 
5. What is the difference in the manner of the two men toward the 
king? 6. What significance is there in the fact that Banquo ex- 



io6 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

presses nimself more simply than Macbeth? 7. What is there in 
the scene to indicate that Duncan was or was not a good judge of 
character? 8. As Duncan pronounces lines 38 and 39, Malcolm 
kneels and removes his bonnet ; why ? 9. How is Duncan engaged 
when Macbeth speaks the soliloquy begun in line 48? 10. What, 
on the whole, is your impression of Duncan? 11. Why did Shake- 
speare select this particular scene in which to announce Malcolm's 
future succession? 12. Where in the scene does Banquo seem to 
be giving, though perhaps unintentionally, some aid to Macbeth ? 
13. What is the best passage of poetry in the scene? 

Scene V. 

Suggestion of Scene. A great room in Macbeth's castle at Inver- 
ness. At the center in the rear is a great door in the thick, massive 
walls, opening into a hall that runs from left to right. After com- 
ing from this hallway and advancing a few paces, one must descend 
two steps to the main level of the room. To the right and rear, 
opening on the higher level of the room, is a small door leading to 
a passage ; and farther forward, on the same side, is a larger door 
leading to Lady Macbeth's bed chamber. On the left, near the 
front, is a large door, approached by two steps. Over it hangs an 
antique lantern of iron work. High above is a small barred win- 
dow. A stone bench, with a high back, and arms, stands hear the 
front ; to the left of it, and a trifle forward, is a small table of 
massive stone. Save for these things, the room is empty ; the walls 
are bare, and the whole place has an air of danger and desolation. 
Lady Macbeth, clad in a long belted robe, and a mantle fastened 
at the breast with a golden brooch, her hair concealed in a close- 
fitting linen cap, is discovered sitting on the stone bench, reading 
a letter. (This stage setting is used by Madame Modjeska, and will 
be used in several scenes of the play.) 

1. See question 21 in Questions on the Scene, after Scene III. 

16. " The milk of human kindness." This phrase has been the 
subject of much discussion. Furness quotes Bodenstedt, who says, 
" We are astonished to learn this of Macbeth, for throughout the 
drama we find no trace of this ' milk of human kindness.' We must 
presume that the lady has too high an opinion of her husband." 
Professor Moulton has a different theory about the word " kind- 
ness." As he points out, the original meaning of the word was 
" natural, nature ; " and in Elizabeth's time the word stdl had this 
meaning. He thinks, therefore, that " humankind-ness " would ex- 
press the meaning better. Macbeth is not tender-hearted, but he 
shrinks from what is not natural ; he can slay men in battle, but 
to plunge a knife into his sleeping king is a deed from which his 
whole nature would recoil. 



ACT I. SCENE V. 107 

19. " Illness," evil. Supply that after " illness." " Wouldst 
highly," wouldst wish greatly. 

20, 21. Notice the antitheses of Macbeth's nature, of which this 
is an example. 

25. What is the emphatic word. 

26. Scan. 

27. " The golden round," the crown. 

28. " Metaphysical," supernatural. 

34. " Had the speed of him," outstripped him. 
38. Scan, giving " entrance " three syllables. 
40. " Mortal," murderous. 

43. Scan. " Remorse," relenting. 

44. " Compunctious visitings of nature, etc.," no natural scruples 
shake my resolve, nor prevent my carrying out what I have deter- 
mined to do. 

48. " Sightless," invisible. 

49. " Wait on nature's mischief," lie in wait to aid the wicked 
in their evil designs. 

50. " Pall," wrap. 

52. Explain " blanket of the dark." 

56. " This ignorant present," an allusion to the fact that we are 
usually ignorant of what will happen in the future. 

57. " Instant," present. 

59. Be careful in the reading of this line. 

62. " Beguile the time," deceive observers. 

63. " Look like the time," be merry, as one should when enter- 
taining a king. 

64. 65. Another antithesis. 

Questions on the Scene, i. Show why the play now increases 
in intensity. 2. What difficulty confronts the plotters? 3. As Ellen 
Terry reads the letter, she pauses after the words, " they made 
themselves air, into which they vanished," looks up, and repeats 
the sentence in surprise. Is there not a more striking passage to 
be repeated thus? 4. W r hat gesture accompanies the words, "Thus 
must thou do, etc." in line 22? 5. In line 30, Modjeska pronounces 
the words, " Thou'rt mad to say it," very fiercely, cutting off the 
last word guardedly, and reads the next two lines in the blandest 
manner possible ; explain. 6. What suggests the idea of hoarseness 
to Lady Macbeth (line 37) ? 7. The raven has always been con- 
sidered a bird of mystery. In Norse mythology the god Odin was 
said to have two ravens, Hugin and Munin, which flew throughout 
the world during the day and returned at night to perch on Odin's 
shoulder, and report what they had seen and heard. Why should 
these superstitions gather about this bird rather than about some 
other ? 8. With how much show of affection do Macbeth and his 
lady greet each other? 9. What terms of affection are there in the 



108 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

scene, and who utters them? 10. Describe fully the tone, manner, 
expression, and attitude of the two plotters from line 53 to the 
end of the scene. 11. Describe in detail Lady Macbeth's analysis 
of her husband's character. 12. What effect does the unexpected 
opportunity have on her? On him? 13. Do you detect any signs 
of indecision in him? 14. Do you regard her as cruel and blood- 
thirsty? 15. In the last two lines in the scene, does Lady Macbeth 
mean to say that Macbeth must not betray his thoughts by his 
looks, or does she show her fear that he is weakening? 16. Is Lady 
Macbeth ambitious for herself or for her husband? 17. Pick out 
the best figures in the scene. 18. Where is the passion of the 
scene strongest? 19. Are the same passages the best from a poet- 
ical standpoint? 

Scene VI. 

Suggestion of Scene. In the background the massive gate and 
walls of the castle at Inverness. Before it is a deep moat, spanned 
by the drawbridge, which has been let down by means of its heavy 
chains. The sound of hautboys is heard, and several mounted sol- 
diers appear. They halt and await the king, who follows on horse- 
back with his sons and thanes. These dismount and assist the king 
to descend from his horse. As the soldiers lead the animals away, 
Duncan talks a moment to Banquo ; when Lady Macbeth, not the 
fierce spirit of the previous scene, but the sweet hostess, appears 
in the gate to welcome her unsuspecting guest. 

1. " Seat," site. 

3. " Gentle," calm, reposeful. 

4. " Martlet," martin. " Approve," prove. 

5. Meaning of " mansionry " ? 

6. " Jutty," projection. 

7. " Coign of vantage," corner advantageous for building. 

8. " Procreant cradle," the nest in which the young are hatched. 
11-14. The king and his hostess now exchange some very polite 

speeches. Duncan says that the love his subjects give him is some- 
times a trouble to him, for, like less distinguished guests, he prefers 
simple entertainment ; but still he accepts her hospitality, which he 
foresees will be lavish, as love. Thus he teaches her to bid God 
" 'ild " (yield, reward) him for troubling her and thank him for 
doing so. The words " 'ild " and " thank " seem to be used in a 
kindly irony ; as if one should say to one's hostess, — I am much 
to blame for putting you to so much trouble. 

16. " Single," weak. 

16, 17. " To contend against," to rival, to offset. 

20. " Hermits " prayed for their benefactors. 

22. See note, Scene IV, line 45 of this act. 

25-28. Another polite speech. Lady Macbeth says that the sub- 
jects of the king owe all they have to him ; and when they entertain 



ACT I. SCENE VII. 109 

him or give him anything, they are only returning what belongs to 
him. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. There are two theories as to this 
scene: one that it is reposeful in its effect — a quiet between two 
storms; the other that it is reposeful so far as the setting and the 
action of the characters is concerned, but very intense in its effect. 
Give the reason for the latter theory. 2. Would not a different 
effect be required if the king were a different kind of man? 3. Do 
you want the king killed? Be careful to distinguish between your 
pity for him and your desire to feel a strong dramatic effect. 4. As 
the king says, " By your leave, hostess," Ellen Terry accepts his 
offered hand, and expresses by look and action her surprise and de- 
light at his majesty's courtesy. 5. Shakespeare has been accused of 
euphuism ; at the same time, he has many passages that are so 
densely packed with metaphors that they are not easy to understand. 
With these facts in mind, pass judgment on Banquo's first speech 
in this scene, and also on Lady Macbeth's. Compare them both with 
lines 25 to 28 inclusive in Scene II. 

Scene VII. 

Suggestion of Scene. The same as Scene V. The room is but 
dimly lighted by a feeble flame in the antique lantern over the big 
door at the left. Through the wide portal at the back one sees 
attendants passing through the hall ; some carry torches, others play 
on hautboys; others, servants from the kitchen, carry great dishes 
loaded with viands, and flasks filled with wine. From the distant 
banquet hall come shouts of revelry, loud bursts of drunken laugh- 
ter, and hoarse voices bawling snatches of songs. Suddenly heavy 
doors shut with a loud bang and the squeak of rusty hinges; the 
noise of the feast is shut out; the silence of death falls upon the 
room ; the lamp flickers fitfully. In the door at the rear, Macbeth 
appears. He advances to the door at the left, which opens into a 
hall leading to the king's apartments. There he lingers doubtfully 
a moment, then turns back to the middle of the stage, where he 
speaks. 

1. Actors usually speak this line poorly; what is the meaning? 
what word should be emphasized to bring the meaning out? Notice 
the force of the repetition of " done " in two different senses. This 
is one of Shakespeare's favorite modes of expression. 

3. " Trammel," entangle ; a trammel is a net. What word in the 
line follows out the metaphor? 

4. " Surcease," a legal term meaning the stopping of a suit. It 
has the sense of cessation. What is the antecedent of " his " ? 

5. 6. " Here, but here," in this life. In line 6, to what does Mac- 
beth compare life ? 

7. " We'ld jump," we would risk. Thus far in the speech Mac- 



no NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

beth means that if he could commit the murder and by it end all 
chance of punishment in this life, he would not consider the punish- 
ment in the life to come. 

io. " Even-handed justice," justice that punishes a criminal. 

ii. "Commends," offers. 

17. " Faculties," powers as king. 

18. " Clear," guiltless, just, merciful. 

21. Notice how well Shakespeare selects the very best figure to 
make his meaning forcible. What could cause more pity than " a 
naked new-born babe," exposed to the fury of the elements? 

23. " Sightless couriers, etc.," the invisible winds. 

25. " That tears, etc." The rain, when it falls heavily, slackens 
the speed of the wind. 

25-28. Macbeth means that he has no reason to kill Duncan, but 
is spurred on only by his ambition, which is like one who attempts 
to vault into his saddle, but leaps too far and falls on the other side. 
Rowe, the first editor of the plays, put a dash after " other," to make 
it appear that Macbeth was interrupted by the entrance of his wife. 

34. " Would," should. What two words contain a metaphor 
here? 

35, 36. The metaphor is strangely mixed here — " hope " is 
compared to a person, inasmuch as it is " drunk," and to a gar- 
ment, inasmuch as Macbeth has dressed himself in it. However, 
Shakespeare often combines figures in this way, and does it effec- 
tively. " May we not coin the expression, double metaphor, to offset 
the disparaging expression, 'mixed metaphor'? " (See note in 
" Hamlet " of this series, Act III, Scene I, line 59.) Consider 
whether this metaphor is double or mixed. 

38, 39. " From this time, etc. ; " I will consider your love as in- 
constant as your resolve to kill Duncan. One editor (Baiky) sug- 
gests that Shakespeare probably wrote " liver " instead of " love ; " 
Lady Macbeth is speaking of courage, which was formerly said to 
reside in the liver ; to talk of love here is to break the train of 
thought. So much for the curious conjectures of the commentators. 

39, 41. "Art thou afeard, etc;" are you afraid to do the thing 
you wish to do ? 

43-45. " Wouldst thou have, etc." The meaning seems doubtful. 
" The ornament of life " is usually understood to mean the crown. 
With this understanding of the expression, Johnson suggested that 
"and" (line 43) be changed to or; in which case the meaning 
is clear. However, may not " the ornament of life " mean the 
" golden opinions " which Macbeth wishes to wear " in their newest 
trloss " ? 

The " adage " mentioned is given in Heywood's Proverbs. " The 
cat would eate fishe, and would not wet her feete." There is a 
form of the same proverb in Low Latin : " Catus amat pisces, sed 
non vult tingere plantas." Clark and Wright. 

47. "Beast" should receive the emphasis; why? 



ACT I. SCENE VII. in 

52. " Adhere," usually interpreted cohere. Capell says, " It is 
not the coherence of lime with place; but the adherence of these 
two with the murder of the king." 

54. " Unmake " receives the emphasis to contrast with " make," 
two lines above. Another antithesis. 

59. With what emphasis should " We fail " be read? Mrs. Jame- 
son says, " Mrs. Siddons adopted successively three different intona- 
tions in giving the words we fail. At first as a quick, contemptuous 
interrogation. Afterward with the note of admiration, and with an 
accent of indignant astonishment, laying the emphasis on ' zve.' 
Lastly, she fixed on what I am convinced is the true reading — we 
fail, with the simple period, modulating her voice to a deep, low 
resolute tone, which settled the issue at once — as though she had 
said, ' If we fail, why then we fad, and all is over.' This is con- 
sistent with the dark fatalism of the character, and the sense of 
the line following — and the effect was sublime, almost awful." 

60. The figure is probably taken from the tightening of the 
thumb screw of a musical instrument, as a violin. 

64. " Wassail," drinking, revelry. " Convince," overcome. 

65. Memory was supposed, in Shakespeare's time, to be situated 
in the cerebellum, the lowest part of the brain ; hence the suitability 
of the figure. Notice that the figure is a natural one for a person 
who dwelt in a castle. 

66. " Receipt," receptacle. 

67. " Limbec," a corruption of alembic, the part of a still into 
which the steam rises ; hence " fume." 

68. Explain " drenched." 

70. " Put upon," attribute to, blame with. 

71. Explain " spongy." 

72. " Quell," murder. 

74. " Received," believed. 

77. " Other," otherwise. Modjeska has a wonderfully effective 
way of reading this word ; her voice rises on the first syllable and 
falls on the second, the effect being one of perfect encouragement 
and assurance. 

79. " ' Bend up ' is of course suggested by the stringing of a 
bow." Clark and Wright. 

80. " Corporal," pertaining to the body. 

81. " Mock," deceive. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. In a previous scene Macbeth has 
been incited by the weird women ; what further incitement has he 
in this scene? 2. Give Macbeth's reasons for not wanting to kill 
the king. 3. He gives a different reason to his wife ; why does he 
do so? 4. In line 31 he shows that he has weakened; has he shown 
this before? 5. By what two powerful reasons does Lady Macbeth 
persuade him to commit the murder? 6. What is Macbeth's manner 



ii2 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

during his first speech? 7. As Sir Henry Irving reads the clause, 
" We'ld jump the life to come," he throws up his arm as if ward- 
ing off a blow. Why ? 8. With what manner does Lady Macbeth 
enter? 9. What expression is on Macbeth's face when he sees her? 
10. In line 35 and what follows, is Lady Macbeth fiercely, or mildly 
and coolly scornful? 11. Modjeska reads the sentence beginning 
in line 47 with fierce scorn ; does this indicate whether her previous 
speech should or should not be so read ? Keep in mind the force 
of contrast. 12. Lady Macbeth .said she would kill her own child 
if she had sworn to do it; would she? If so, with what looks and 
tones should she read the lines? If not, how should she read them? 
13. How does the tone of the speech beginning in line 59 differ 
from Lady Macbeth's preceding speech ? Would it not be suitable 
for her to come near Macbeth and show him some sign of affection, 
as putting her hand on his shoulder? 14. Contrast Macbeth's 
manner in the beginning of the speech with that in the end. 15. 
Decide upon the personal appearance of the two. Are they blonde 
or brunette? Has Macbeth a burly form, or is he cast in an 
ordinary mold? Is Lady Macbeth a slender, delicate woman, or a 
large, brutal woman? 16. What effect has the contrast between the 
two upon the dramatic force of the scene? 17. Are the speeches, 
in the main, spoken in loud or in soft tones? 18. Has Macbeth a 
moral character? Has Lady Macbeth? 19. What motive has Mac- 
beth for wanting to kill Duncan ? What motive has Lady Macbeth ? 
Are not they contrasts in the matter of selfishness? 20. Which 
one of them wavers between good and evil ? Show a contrast here. 
21. Do lines 46 and 47 show Macbeth to be moral or immoral? 22. 
How does Lady Macbeth overthrow his argument here? 23. Show 
the difficulty of speaking this speech (lines 47-58). Must not the 
actor's manner, in a part of the speech, indicate exactly what the 
words do not mean ? 24. What is there in the scene to indicate who 
first suggested killing the king? 25. This suggestion is not made in 
the play ; when must it have been made ? 26. If the other person had 
first suggested it, would not the name of the play have been differ- 
ent? 27. What is your feeling for Duncan during the speech begin- 
ning in line 59? 28. Has Lady Macbeth any malice toward him? 

29. Where in the scene is stated the moral lesson that the play 
inevitably teaches, though perhaps without the intention of the poet? 

30. In what respect does Lady Macbeth resemble the mother of all 
mankind? 31. In this connection, how does Macbeth differ from 
the father of all mankind ? 32. Is the scene remarkable from a 
poetical standpoint? Why? 32. Count the figures. 

Questions on the Act. 1. What one of the five divisions of the 
story does the act set forth? 2. Modjeska begins the second act 
with Scene V of this act, and continues it into the next, ending it 
at a climax, instead of in Shakespeare's manner — on a fine speech 
or at the end of a division of the story. As you read on, determine 



ACT II. SCENE I. 113 

where the second act, according to Modjeska, should end. 3. Upon 
whom does the original responsibility of the crime rest? 4. Show 
the steps by which Macbeth's moral nature is broken up. 5. Under 
what circumstances was he a bold man, and under what circum- 
stances was he not bold? 6. Show the suitability of the scenes 
to the nature of the play. 7. Show where the hand of Fate appears 
in the act. 8. Is it at any time in Macbeth's power, considering his 
nature and his environment, to resist the strong temptation to crime? 

ACT II. 

Scene I. 

Suggestion of Scene. The same as Scenes V and VII of Act 
I. Banquo and Fleance enter, the latter carrying a torch. The 
father rests his hand affectionately on the son's shoulder, and as 
they pause, looks up through the small barred window into the star- 
less night sky. 

4. " Husbandry," economy. 

5. What is it that Banquo tells Fleance to take? 

6. Explain " heavy summons." 

7-9. What are the " cursed thoughts " that come to Banquo in 
his sleep? 

14. " Largess," presents. " Offices," the rooms occupied by the 
servants. 

16, 17. " Shut up, etc.." a disputed passage, probably meaning 
that the king is enclosed in content as a diamond is shut up in its 
case. 

17-19. Macbeth means, — We cannot entertain the king as well as 
we have the will to entertain him, because we were unprepared for 
his coming. 

22. " When we, etc. ; " when I can beg a convenient hour of you. 

25. The line means, — If you will be loyal to me " when 'tis " — 
when the prediction of the weird women comes true. 

26. Here is another example of Shakespeare's manner of turning 
the meaning of a word. What does Macbeth mean by " honor " ? 
What does Banquo mean by the word as implied in " none " ? Com- 
pare Act I, Scene VII, line 47. 

28. " Franchised," free. 

There has been much discussion as to Banquo's state of mind 
in the scene. In the beginning of it, he seems tempted ; but here 
he firmly declares that he will not be false to his allegiance to 
the king. Some critics take the ground that he is in no way 
tempted ; that Macbeth describes him accurately in the first scene 
of Act III. This view does not seem tenable, as it is very evident 
that Banquo is thinking seriously of the prediction of the weird 
women ; it is he who first mentions them in this scene. The solution 

8 



ii4 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

of the problem does not seem difficult : Banquo is evidently a man 
who has, all his life, made the right decision in moral crises ; he 
has never yielded to small temptations. Hence, when he is now 
confronted with a great temptation, all the moral strength he has 
gained in his past life rises up in all its power to help him resist. 
If he had yielded to small temptations, he would not now have the 
strength to resist a great one. 

31. " Drink," the posset, the customary " nightcap " of ancient 
times ; it was made of hot milk and spirits. 

Davenant's improvement on Shakespeare at this point is as 
follows : — 

" Go bid your mistress, when she is undressed, 
To strike upon the closet-bell, and I'll go to bed." 

36. " Sensible," " capable of being perceived by the senses." 
Clark and Wright. 

44, 45. The meaning is, — Either my eyes are deceived, or they 
are capable of apprehending what my other senses cannot apprehend. 

46. " Dudgeon," handle. " Gouts." drops. 

49. Which half of the world is meant? 

51. Explain " curtain'd " in two ways. 

52. " Hecate," pronounced in three syllables, -but here, and else- 
where in Shakespeare, in two. Hecate was the goddess of witch- 
craft. Explain the force of " wither'd." 

54. " Howl's," howl is. " Watch," watch cry. 

55. " Tarquin," an old Roman criminal. 

59, 60. The meaning is, — Take away the horror of my present 
surroundings — the darkness, the silence, and the feeling of guilt 
that oppresses me ; a horror that is suitable to the crime I am about 
to commit. 

61. The line means, — If I stop to consider this deed too long, I 
shall not do it. Compare " Hamlet," Act IV, Scene IV, from line 
39 to the end of the speech. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. Does the interest of the scene arise 
from what we may call the psychology of the play, or from the 
action? 2. Why does the scene begin with a conversation concern- 
ing the time of night? 3. Why is the conversation between Macbeth 
and Banquo particularly suitable to this particular scene? 4. What 
dramatic quality does the scene gain from the contrast between the 
characters of Macbeth and Banquo? 5. Why does Banquo ask 
Fleance to take his sword ? Why does he ask for it again ? 6. Why 
does Macbeth want the bell rung? 7. After the servant goes out, 
Macbeth goes stealthily to the lantern over the great door at the 
left, blows out the light, and then goes about the room listening at 
every doorway. Why does this action heighten the dramatic effect? 



ACT II. SCENE II. 



"5 



8. Is the dagger imaginary or real ? 9. Should it be represented ? 
That is, should a dagger be suspended so that the audience can 
see it? 10. Does the seeing of the dagger inspire Macbeth with 
fear or with confidence ? Does Macbeth tremble as he recites the 
speech, or is his manner resolute? n. Where does the thought 
change? 12. Why does the speech end with a rime? 13. Why are 
all long soliloquies difficult to recite effectively? 14. What is the 
dramatic effect of the ringing of the bell? 15. Again, do you want 
the king to be killed? (The student may understand his own mind 
better here if he will read De Quincey " On Murder Considered as 
One of the Fine Arts.") 16. Give a careful judgment of the char- 
acter of Banquo. 17. Is there any significance in the fact that it 
is Banquo who first mentions the weird women? 18. Show an evi- 
dence of hypocrisy in Macbeth's speech beginning in line 21. 19. 
Does the courage incited in Macbeth by his wife still remain with 
him? 20. Is it now in Macbeth's power to repent of his resolu- 
tion and refuse to do the deed? 21. It has been said by some critics 
that the weird women, though not present in the scene, nevertheless 
give Macbeth further incitement to commit the crime ; explain. 22. 
Point out the words in the scene that are especially effective, par- 
ticularly in the dagger speech. 23. One quality of poetry is con 
densation ; show that Shakespeare says much in a few words. 

Scene II. 

Suggestion of Scene. The same scene continues. Lady Mac- 
beth enters through the great door at the rear. She is clad in 
white ; her hair hangs in a flowing mass, and is bound about the 
forehead with a silver band. Some actors use lightning and thunder 
in this scene and the preceding, but this matter should not be over- 
done : some distant, ominous rumbling and a flash or two of fire in 
the small window high in the wall at the left may be effective, 
especially in the interval between Macbeth's exit and Lady Mac- 
beth's entrance. As she comes toward the front, telling the effect 
the drink has had upon her, the hoot of an owl' is heard ; she starts 
violently, but soon recovers herself. The scene is quiet, but the 
most intense excitement prevails. 

2. Notice the antithesis. 

3. " Bellman." Clark and Wright quote the following from 
Webster's Duchess of Malfi : — 

" I am the common bellman. 
That usually is sent to condemn'd persons 
The night before they suffer." 

5. " Grooms," servants. 

10, 11. "The attempt, etc." The meaning is, — To attempt and 



n6 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

fail would be our ruin, while to succeed in killing the king would 
put us beyond the reach of punishment. 

15. The cry of cricket or of owl was a sign of death. 

20. " Sorry," sad. 

24. "Address'd," prepared. 

25. "Are" should receive the emphasis; why? 
2,7. " Ravell'd," tangled. " Sleave," floss. 

38. Notice the antithesis. 

39. The " second course " at a feast was doubtless the substan- 
tial part. 

46. " Brainsickly," madly. 

47. Meaning of " witness " ? 
51, 52. Another antithesis. 

55. What is the "painted devil" that Lady Macbeth speaks of? 

56. " Gild." Gold was formerly spoken of as red. In this and 
the next line a pun occurs. Do you think Shakespeare intended to 
make it? If so, why? 

57. The student should read De Quincey's famous essay " On 
the Knocking on the Gate in ' Macbeth.' " 

62. " Multitudinous seas ; " notice the effect of the expression 
from the standpoint of sound. The picture is that of the " seas " 
(waves) breaking on the beach. 

63. A pause is necessary in the reading of this line; where? 
" Incarnadine," make red. 

64. Lady Macbeth is supposed to hear what Macbeth says of the 
color of his hand ; hence her speech. 

68. "Constancy," self-possession. 
70. " Nightgown," dressing gown. 
72. " Poorly," feebly. 

72,. The line means, — It would be better to be unconscious, or 
mad, or even dead, than to be conscious of this crime. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. The scene is continuous with the 
preceding. Do you know anything concerning the theater of Shake- 
speare's time that accounts for two scenes being indicated instead 
of one? 2. In line 2, Lady Macbeth pronounces the two words, 
" Hark " and " Peace," in a widely different manner, and with a 
marked pause between ; explain. 3. Should the cry of the owl be 
heard by the audience, or only imagined? If the former, should it 
seem far away, or near at hand ? Is Lady Macbeth only curious 
about it, or is she startled ? 4. Why are the cries of the owl and the 
cricket particularly effective in the scene? 5. Has the drink made 
Lady Macbeth bold ? 6. What is her manner in line 9 ? 7. In lines 
12 and 13, she says she would have killed Duncan herself if he 
had not resembled her father. Does this sound like the woman 
who would have dashed out the brains of her own child to keep her 
oath ? 8. Is Macbeth's cry, " Who's there ? What, ho ! " loud or 
soft ? Describe its quality. 9. What is his manner as he enters ? 



ACT II. SCENE III. - 117 

10. Sir Henry Irving indicates Macbeth's state of mind for most 
of his speeches in the scene, by leaning against the wall and groan- 
ing. Is this effective? 11. What is the dramatic effect of the very 
short speeches jnst after Macbeth's entrance? 12. As Modjeska 
plays the piece, her manner changes after Macbeth enters ; she says, 
" I heard the owl scream, etc.," in a calm, reassuring tone. Some- 
times she almost laughs at his fears. Why? Consider whether she 
is able to maintain this seeming fearlessness as the scene progresses. 
Where must she struggle hardest to maintain her self-control ? 
Where might she wring her hands with tragic effect? 13. Does Mac- 
beth speak in a loud or a low tone as he complains of not being 
able to say "Amen"? Is it the same throughout the scene? 14. 
Explain the dramatic effect of the cry, " Sleep no more ! " 15. Does 
Lady Macbeth take the daggers with a gentle or an ungentle hand ? 
16. Should the knocking be loud and startling or the reveise? 17. 
Show that the actress, particularly at the end of the scene, has the 
difficult task of appearing to Macbeth to be in a certain state of 
mind, while to the audience she must appear to be in quite a differ- 
ent one. 18. Why is the last line particularly dramatic? 19. Show 
from the scene and from your answers to some of the foregoing 
questions, a new phase of Lady Macbeth's character. What light 
does it throw on question 14 of Act I, Scene V? 20. In Act I, 
Scene VII, Macbeth said he would " jump the life to come." Has 
he succeeded in doing so? 21. Account for the voice that cried, 
Sleep no more! " Is it not suggestive of the dagger episode? 22. 
One of the physiological effects of fear is a dryness of the mouth 
that makes speech difficult. Does this alone account for Macbeth's 
inability to say "Amen " ? 23. What is the effect of this contrast 
between prayer and crime? 24. What connection has the knocking 
on the gate with the great moral law contained in the play? 25. 
What condition in Macbeth seems to induce strength in Lady Mac- 
beth ? 26. What incident in the scene seems to revivify her strength, 
when it seems to be in danger of failing? 27. One critic (Flathc) 
thinks that Lady Macbeth has committed several crimes before the 
beginning of the play. Is there any evidence? How do you account 
for her having the strength in evil to do what she did? 2S. Is 
Macbeth's step irretrievable ? 29. Does it appear that he is in the 
grip of forces over which he has no control ? 30. Pick out the 
natural sounds that lend dramatic effect and poetic color to the 
scene. 31. Note the figures in the scene; count those in lines 35 
and 40 inclusive. 32. Account for the high poetic quality of the 
scene. 

Scene III. 

Suggestion of Scene. The previous scene continues. The guilty 
two disappear ; the knocking continues. At the small door at the 
right and back appears the porter, staggering from sleepiness and 



n8 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

drink ; he yawns, stretches himself unsteadily, thereby running the 
risk of dropping the antique lantern he carries in one hand, and 
the bunch of great keys in the other. He takes a maudlin pleasure 
in imagining himself the porter of the gate of hell ; at every knock 
from without he bows ironically to an imaginary arrival in that 
lower dismal region, announces the station of the unfortunate, and 
hints at the cause of his downfall. At the end, he goes out the 
gxc~t door at the center and rear, and turns to the left, and after a 
moment he ^s heard drawing bolts, dragging chains, and turning a 
key in a great lock. Then there is the tramp of feet and the sound 
of voices. Macduff and Lennox, followed by the sleepy porter, enter. 
2. " Old," an intensive, meaning more than enough, too much. 

4. " Beelzebub," the prince of devils. 

5. " Expectation of plenty." In times of plenty, prices of farm 
products are low ; hence the farmer's suicide. The expression is 
one from which the date of the play (1606) is inferred; for it is 
recorded that in the summer and autumn of 1606 there was a pros- 
pect of an unusual crop, and the price of corn (grain) was lower 
than it became for thirteen years afterward. 

6. " Napkins," handkerchiefs. " Enow," enough. 

11. " Equivocator." Clark and Wright have the following note: 

I " Warburton suggested that Shakespeare here had in mind the 

J equivocation with which the Jesuits were charged. In the account 

.-" of the proceedings at Garnet's trial, published in 1606, we read: 

' Fourthly, they were allowed and taught by the Iesuites, to equiuo- 

cate vpon othe, saluatation or otherwise, and how then should it be 

\ discouered ? ' Malone founds upon this an argument for placing 

\ the composition of the play in the year 1606, when the remembrance 

Vof the Gunpowder Plot was fresh in the minds of the people." 

14. "French hose." There were two kinds of French hose (knee- 
breeches), the one full, the other close-fitting. The latter is alluded 
to, as it would take an unusually skillful tailor to steal anything out 
of them. 

15. " Goose," an iron so called because its handle is like a goose's 
neck. What is the plural of the word ? 

18. " Primrose way," the easy and beautiful way. It is a theory 
of some critics that the porter scene is an interpolation ; in this 
connection, what significance is there in the fact that a similar 
expression, " the primrose path of dalliance," occurs in " Hamlet " 
(Act I, Scene III, line 50) ? 

28. " Timely," early. 

29. " Slipp'd the hour," let the hour slip by. 

32. The line means, — A labor in which we take delight overbal- 
ances the pain and weariness connected with that labor. 

34. " Limited," appointed. 

40. " Combustion," conflagration ; a metaphor accompanying 
"confused events." The idea is that there shall be great tumult and 
destruction in the kingdom. 



ACT II. SCENE III. . 119 

41. " New hatch 'd, etc.," especially prepared to suit the woeful 
condition of the times. " Obscure bird; " what is it, and why? Scan 
the line. 

46. " Tongue nor heart, etc.," a double reversed construction, 
meaning, — Tongue cannot name thee nor heart conceive thee. 

48. " Confusion," destruction. 

50. "Anointed," allusion to the old custom of anointing kings in 
the ceremony of coronation. 

54. " Gorgon," Medusa, the sight of whose horrid face and snaky 
locks turned the beholder into stone. 

60. " Great doom's image," the image of that which shall come 
to us all — Death. Clark and Wright say, "A sight as terrible as 
the last judgment." 

62. Theobald conjectured that " ring the bell " was a marginal 
stage direction in the book of the prompter, who at this point was 
to have the bell rung in obedience to Macduff's command (line 56). 
What proof does the scansion reveal ? 

62. " Countenance," " give a suitable accompaniment to." Clark 
and Wright. 

64. " Trumpet," metaphor for bell ; the trumpet was used in war 
to sound a parley. 

75. " Mortality," human life. 

76. " Toys," trifles. Why " is " for arc? 

77. 78. Macbeth compares the world to a wine vault; who, then, 
is the " wine," and who the " lees " ? 

84. " Badged," as if they wore badges of blood. 

93. " Expedition," haste. 

94. " Reason," in apposition with " pauser." 

95. " Golden ; " see note on line 56 in the previous scene. 

96. Show that the figure in this and the next line is particularly 
suitable in the mouth of a soldier. 

99. " Unmannerly breech'd " has been supposed by some to be a 
corruption. Johnson suggested " unmanly drench'd." However, 
" breech'd " means covered, and " unmannerly " means improperly, 
and though the phrase does not seem strong, it is not necessarily a 
corruption. 

103. "Argument," subject, event. 

105. "Auger-hole," metaphor for any small place of concealment. 
Donalbain means that their deaths may come upon them as sud- 
denly and mysteriously as their father's came to him. 

107. " Our tears, etc." The meaning is that our sudden sorrow 
has not yet begun to afflict us. Malcolm expresses the same or a 
very similar idea in the speech following ; it frequently happens that 
people do not feel their griefs at once, but only after there has been 
time to think them over. If the emphasis is put on " our," what is 
the implication? 

109. "Naked frailties," compare with line 61 of this scene; the 
men are in thin night robes, and but half clad. 



120 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

112. " Scruples," suspicions. 

114. " Pretence," reason. The order of words is unusual; "of 
treasonous malice," in the next line, should follow " pretence." 

116. "Manly readiness," complete armor. 

123. " The near in blood," that is, the nearer in relationship. 

127. " Dainty," ceremonious. 

128. " Shift away," steal away. 

128, 129. " There's warrant, etc. The idea is, — There is good 
reason for shifting away when one knows that his life is in danger. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. Does it not appear that there was a 
turning point in the previous scene? 2. Show how the new theme 
of the play is well begun in the present scene. 3. Schiller, in his 
translation of " Macbeth," changed the porter scene entirely ; his 
porter is a moralist rather than a drunken comedian. Why did 
Schiller make so radical a change? In other words, should there be 
a comedy scene between such tragic scenes? (The question is im- 
portant, since the porter's part is, by some, considered an interpola- 
tion. Compare the first part of the first scene of the fifth act of 
"Hamlet" and Scene III of Act III of "Julius Caesar.") 4. Show 
that the actor who takes the part of Macbeth has a particularly diffi- 
cult part to play as he enters. 5. Should Macduff and Lennox speak 
in loud or low tones? Is there any thing in the lines to show 
whether, before they discover the death of the king, the spirit of 
mystery, of impending disaster, broods over their conversation? 6. 
With what manner does Macbeth say, " This is the door," and, " He 
does : he did appoint so " ? 7. What is the dramatic effect of Len- 
nox's speech that follows (line 36) ? 8. Fancy Macbeth's looks and 
furtive trembling as he hears Macduff's returning footsteps. 9. Is 
Macduff's exclamation, " O horror, horror, horror," given in a loud, 
startling tone, or in a voice low and hoarse from excess of emo- 
tion ? In other words, does the horror of the situation break sud- 
denly, or does it come gradually, reaching a climax in the ringing 
of the bell and in the entrance of Lady Macbeth? 10. Spencer, in 
his " Philosophy of Style," lays down the principle that in moments 
of extreme emotion people are apt to speak in the most simple and 
direct words. With this in mind, consider whether it would be better 
for Macduff to say, " The king has been murdered," rather than 
" Confusion now, etc." (line 48). Can you see any reason for 
Shakespeare's preference for the more roundabout expression ? Has 
climax anything to do with it? 11. What is the dramatic effect of 
the ringing of the bell? 12. Show that the entrance of Lady Mac- 
beth makes the situation more intense. 13. Why is the entrance of 
Banquo suitable exactly at this time? 14. Is the situation easier or 
more difficult for Macbeth after he has returned from seeing the 
dead king? 15. Is the entrance of the two sons more or less 
dramatic in effect than that of Lady Macbeth and Banquo? 16. 
What word does Lennox emphasize in line 83 ? Why ? Would 
not a sidelong glance of the eye help here? Explain. 17. In Mod- 



ACT II. SCENE IV. - 121 

jeska's presentation of the play, Macduff, in pronouncing the speech, 
" Wherefore did you so?" (line 90) raised his sword high above Mac- 
beth's head. Why ? 18. What event prepares for the end of the scene ? 

19. Do the " aside " speeches of Malcolm and Donalbain indicate 
anything as to Macbeth's reaping the benefit of his bloody deed? 

20. Garrick, in his presentation of the play, changed Banquo's speech 
beginning in line 109, so that it might not be necessary to have the 
guests of the house appear in night robes. Was this good taste? 

21. The scene is usually cut near the end. Where? Why? 22. What 
speeches near the end indicate who is suspected ? 23. Is Macbeth a 
successful dissembler? Consider carefully the speeches beginning 
in lines 73, 79, 91; note the elaborate phraseology; what does this 
indicate? 24. In this connection, compare " Hamlet," Act III, Scene 
II, line 217 (this series), in which the Queen says, " The lady doth 
protest too much, methinks." What suggests the reference? 25. 
Is Lady Macbeth a good dissembler? How many words in her com- 
ment on the murder? Is there any significance in the fact that they 
are few? 26. It has been said that she grieves merely because the 
murder has been committed in her house. Is this true? 27. Much 
has been said concerning Lady Macbeth's faint. Was it real or 
feigned ? Consider whether she had passed through enough to 
cause her to faint ; also whether she had any reason to seem to 
faint. 28. Modjeska, all through her Macbeth's speech beginning 
in line 91, seemed to try to attract his attention; she gave him fur- 
tive glances and made nervous little gestures, but all to no purpose. 
Finally came the words, " Help me hence, ho ! " Macbeth at once 
looked toward her with the rest ; she gave him a meaning look, and 
fell fainting into the arms of two of her waiting women. Explain 
her purpose. Can you determine what was her view of the faint? 
29. Was it strength or weakness in the character of Macbeth that he 
ignored his wife in he^ fainting fit? 30. Consider, in this scene and 
the previous one, what spurs on Lady Macbeth to use all her strength, 
and what allows her woman's nature to reassert itself? 31. Is it 
now in the power of Macbeth to return to a blameless life? Is he 
still in the grip of " the instruments of darkness " ? 32. What in- 
fluences, Within and without, have brought him to his present con- 
dition. 33. Show from Banquo's speech beginning in line ioq, 
whether he is weak or strong, good or bad ? 34. What does the 
scene indicate concerning the character of Duncan's two sons? 35. 
What are the best lines from a poetical point of view? 36. What 
speeches did Shakespeare make somewhat strained and artificial, and 
why did he make them so ? 

Scene IV. 

Suggestion of Scene. In his book, " Shakespeare the Boy," Dr. 
Rolfe says, "It is not likely that he (Shakespeare) was ever in 
Scotland, and when he described the castle of Macbeth the pic- 



122 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

ture in his mind's eye was doubtless Warwick or Kenilworth and 
more likely the former than the latter, for 

This castle has a pleasant seat,' etc." 

The quotation is from Scene VI of Act I ; but we prefer to use the 
suggestion here rather than there, because it is more suitable here 
that the castle should be seen at a distance : in the former scene, 
Lady Macbeth meets the king, and she would not be likely to advance 
farther than the outer gate. Then, instead of Macbeth's stronghold at 
Inverness, fancy Warwick Castle, which, doubtless, Shakespeare saw 
many times when a boy. It stands by the Avon. At present a 
stone bridge spans the grass-grown hollow that was once the moat ; 
but formerly there was no passage to the castle except the draw- 
bridge, over which one passed to the barbican, a great square struc- 
ture, with heavy battlemented towers, in which there are narrow slits 
of windows. Behind the barbican are the outer walls, and behind 
these, higher walls and higher towers ; one called Caesar's Tower, 
from the old tradition that Caesar built it ; another Guy's Tower, 
from the renowned Guy of Warwick. On each side of the barbican 
a few large trees relieve the coldness of the heavy masonry. Over 
all is the gloom of a day of ominous darkness. 
4. Explain " trifled." 

6. "Stage," another figure from Shakespeare's profession. 

7. Explain " travelling lamp." 

8. o. " Predominance," an astrological term, meaning the superior 
influence of a planet. The idea is, — Is it still dark because the deed 
done in the night has established the reign of night and of deeds 
of darkness, or because day is" ashamed to look upon what has been 
done? 

12. " Place," a term of falconry, meaning the height or " pitch " 
to which the falcon rises before swooping down on its prey. 

13. " Mousing owl ; " the owl usually catches nothing but de- 
fenseless creatures, such as mice and rabbits. 

15. " Minions," darlings. 

16. " Nature," disposition. 

24. " Pretend," intend, design. The meaning seems to be, — What 
reason could they have? 

28. " Ravin," plunder. 

31. " Scone," a town in Scotland, near Perth. It is supposed 
to have been the capital of the ancient Picts. Here the kings were 
crowned, sitting in a chair in the seat of which was inclosed a stone 
said to have been the pillow of Jacob when he dreamed of " the 
angels of God ascending and descending." (See Genesis xxviii. 
10-15.) Edward I carried the stone to Westminster Abbey, where 
it forms the seat of the chair upon which the kings of England 
have been crowned from his day to this. 

33. " Colme-kill," one of the western isles, now called Icolm- 



ACT III. SCENE I. ■ 123 

kill. It has an interesting history, having been a home of the 
Druids until Christianity was introduced. Here the kings of Scot- 
land were buried, Macbeth being the last. 

38. This line is an omen of the future. Explain. 

40. " Benison," blessing. 

40, 41. The Old Man endeavors to offset Macduff's speech. Ex- 
plain. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. Considering that the preceding scene 
may be likened to a storm, how would you carry out the figure in 
describing this scene? 2. In what way or ways does the scene help 
the story along? 3. How has the poet contrived to throw the influ- 
ence of the spiritual and a fear as to the future over the scene? 
4. Would a Young Man be as effective a character in the scene as 
the Old Man? 

Questions on the Act. 1. Consider again the steps of the story 
set forth in the first act, and now the one set forth in this. 2. 
Where is the strongest climax in> the scene? 3. Discuss again the 
turning point in the play. 4. What scenes or portions of scenes are 
intense, and what are not? 5. What is the purpose of those that 
are not? 6. Determine where in this act Modjeska ends her first 
act in order to end it at a strong climax, according to the require- 
ment of the modern drama. 7. Consider, throughout both acts, the 
circumstances under which Lady Macbeth's courage is strongest. 
8. The prophecies of the weird women are now fulfilled. What 
joy may Macbeth expect from their fulfillment? 9. May Banquo be 
counted on as a friend to Macbeth in the future? 10. Could any 
scene in the act be spared ? 

ACT III. 

r- 

Scenc I. 

Suggestion of Scene. The Throne Room of the castle. The 
walls are wainscoted to the height of a man's head ; above, the 
bare stone appears. At the rear, on a dais, are two royal chairs, 
and high over them is a canopy. On either side, against the wall, 
are the arms of Scotland. At the left is a table, on which are an 
inkhorn and quills, together with some parchment and a large open 
book. By the table is a high-backed, rude chair. Banquo is dis- 
covered standing with clasped hands, looking upon the throne, medi- 
tating. His words are interrupted by the sound of trumpets, after 
which Macbeth and his queen, in crowns and robes, enter, followed 
by the court. The royal pair seat themselves on the throne, and 
the attendants range themselves on either side. 

4. " Stand," remain. 

" Sennet," a set of notes on a trumpet. 



i2 4 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

7. " Shine; " why is the word well selected? 

12. Macbeth finds the "gap" strangely filled in a later scene; 
it is significant of what is to come. Davenant puts it, — 

" It had been want of nuisick in our feast," 

and thus robs the line of its significance. 

13. "All-thing," in every way. 

14. " Solemn," ceremonious. 

16. Supply command after " which." 

17. Scan. "Indissoluble" is accented on the second syllable. 
21. "Still," always; "grave," important, valuable. 

25. " Go not, etc." if my horse does not go better than usual, 
or, perhaps, better (faster) than the night comes on. 

26. Explain the figure. 

28. Banquo does not fail, as you will see in a subsequc.il .1 

29. " Bestow'd," hidden, 

32. What was this "invention?" 

33. " Cause," " a subject of debate." Clark and Wright. 

34. " Craving," demanding. 

36. " Our time, etc.;' it is time for us to go. 

38. " Commend," give, intrust. 

42. Why does Macbeth say " ourself " ? 

43. " While," until. 

44. " Sirrah," a word used when speaking to inferiors. 

47, 4S. The sentence is important, as it contains the idea that 
governs Macbeth' s conduct for the future. 

49. " Royalty of nature," royal nature. 

50. " Would," should. 

51. " To," " in addition to." Clark and Wright. 

55, 56. The allusion is to a passage in Plutarch's "Antonius," 
which is as follows : — 

"Antonius was ever inferior unto Ccesar (Octavius), . . . which 
grieved him much. With Antonius there was a soothsayer or as- 
tronomer of Egypt, that could cast a figure, and judge of men's 
nativities, to tell them what should happen unto them. He, either 
to please Cleopatra, or else that he found it so by his art, told 
Antonius plainly, that his fortune (which of it self was excellent 
good, and very great) was altogether blemished and obscured by 
Caesar's fortune : and therefore he counseled him utterly to leave 
his company, and to get him as far from him as he could. For 
thy demon, said he (that is to say, the good angel and spirit that 
keepeth thee), is afraid of his: and being courageous and high 
when he is alone, becometh fearful and timorous when he comcth 
near unto the other." 

62. " With," by. 

63. There is a tradition that a son of Macbeth was killed with 
him in his last fight with Malcolm. 



ACT III. SCENE I. , 125 

64. " Filed," defiled. 

66. " Rancors," the strongest word in the language to indicate 
hatred, malice. Macbeth means that his deed has stirred up so 
much enmity against him that he can have no peace. " Vessel." 
Clark and Wright suggest that the word is an allusion to St. 
Paul's words in Romans ix. 22, 23 : " What if God, willing to show 
his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long- 
suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction : and that he 
might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, 
which he had afore prepared unto glory " . 

67. " Eternal jewel," soul. 

68. " Common enemy of man," the devil. 

70, 71. The figure is drawn from chivalry; Macbeth pictures 
himself fighting Fate as one knight fights another in a tournament. 
" Champion me," fight with me. " To the utterance," to the utter- 
most, the end ; from the French, " Combatre a oulirancc." 

;6. Who is "he " ? 

78. " Made good," proved. 

79. " Pass'd in probation," spent in proving. 

80. " Borne in hand," deceived by false hopes. " Cross'd," de- 
feated, beaten. " Instruments, 1 ' means. 

82. " Half a soul," a man with only half an ordinary man's 
spirit. " Notion," mind. 

87. " Gospell'd," instructed in the Gospels, religious. 

90. What is the emphatic word in the First Murderer's reply, and 
what is the significance of the emphasis? 

93. "Shoughs," shocks, shockdogs — dogs with bushy hair. 
" Water-rugs," water-dogs. " Demi-wolves," crosses between dogs 
and wolves. " Clept," called. 

94. " File," list, muster roll, rank ; used as " catalogue " is used 
in line 91. 

96. " Housekeeper'"'' house-dog. 

99. "Addition," title. " Bill," list. 

100. " That writes, etc.," that contains the names of those that 
have no special distinction — mere curs. 

106. Notice the antithesis of two words in this line. 

in. " Tugg'd with fortune;" as if he had wrestled with for- 
tune and had fared ill. 

115. " Bloody distance," a fencing term, meaning the distance at 
which two combatants must stand in order to thrust. 

117. " Near'st of life," my very life. 

119. "Bid my will avouch it," say I did it because my royal 
will willed it. The word of the king was law. 

120. " For," because of. 

129. " Perfect spy o' the time;" a difficult expression, meaning, 
probably, the exact time that Banquo will come by. It has been 
conjectured that the " spy " is the " third murderer " in Scene III. 



126 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

The student will readily see an objection to this explanation. 

131. " Something " somewhat, some distance. 

131, 132. "Always thought, etc.," let it always be thought that 
I require freedom from suspicion ; that is, you must not reyeal 
my connection with the affair. 

133. " Rubs; " a figure from the game of bowls; when the ball 
struck something that threw it from its course, there was said to 
be " a rub." 

136. 137- " Must embrace, etc." Davenant has it, " Must cm- 
brace the same fate." Why is Shakespeare's way the better? 

137. " Resolve," come to a conclusion. 

138. Scan the line, and you will find that it contains six feet; 
such a line is called an Alexandrine. 

139. " Straight," straightway, immediately. 

140. 141. What is the significance of the rime? 

Questions on the Scene. 1. What new purpose now fills the 
mind of Macbeth? 2. What is the cause of it? 3. Is the scene 
in itself dramatic? 4. To what does it owe its intensity? 5. As 
Modjeska's Macbeth read the speech beginning in line 29, her hand 
stole softly out of her robe, rested on his arm as it lay on the arm 
of the chair, and gave it a gentle pressure; what was the pur- 
pose of this? 6. The last sentence in this speech, "Goes Fleance 
with you? " as well as the question in line 23. is read in the most 
casual manner; why? 7. Bauquo's speech, "My lord, I will not," 
is full of significance, for Banquo does appear at the feast, but as a 
ghost streaked with bloody wounds. Should the actor strive to 
impart an ominous significance to the speech ? 8. It is a good 
exercise to make a paraphrase of Macbeth's long soliloquy beginning 
in line .47. 9. Macbeth, as we see from his first speech to the 
murderers, has had a previous conversation with them ; why did 
not the poet let us hear that conversation too? 10. What mental 
picture do you make of the murderers — their dress, their manner? 
11. By what means does Macbeth flatter them into attempting the 
murder of Banquo? 12. Why does he not commit the murder him- 
self? 13. Has Banquo a true conception of the character of Mac- 
beth? 14. If so, why does he express so much loyalty to Macbeth 
in his speech beginning in line 15? 15. Does it accord with his speech 
in Act II, Sceen III, lines 109-115? 16. Does this lower your 
opinion of Banquo? 17. Has Macbeth a true conception of Banquo? 
18. In a former scene Macbeth has said he would " jump the life to 
come;" has he succeeded in doing so? 19. Is it in Macbeth's 
power to retrace the steps he has taken and live henceforth a vir- 
tuous life? 20. Show whether his moral character continues to 
degenerate. 



ACT III. SCENE II. 127 

Scene II. 

Suggestion of Scene. The same as the preceding. After Mac- 
beth goes away, a servant enters, bearing the queen's robe of state ; 
he stops, and bows as she enters. 

3. "Attend," await. 

4-7. What is the significance of the rimes ? 

9. " Sorriest," saddest. 

10. " Using," entertaining, cherishing. 

13. " Scotch'd," cut, hacked. 

14. " Close," heal, grow together. 
14, 15. Explain the figure. 

16. " Frame of things," the universe, the solar system. " Both 
the worlds," " the terrestrial and celestial." Clark and Wright. 
Could the expression mean this world and the next? "Suffer," 
perish. 

20. Again, one word used in two senses. Explain. A critic has 
substituted " place " for the second " peace ; " is the change a good 
one? 

2i. "The 'torture of the mind' is compared to the rack; 
hence the use of the preposition ' on.' " Clark and Wright. 

22. " Ecstasy," madness. 

23. " Fitful," intermittent. 

25. " Malice domestic," treason ; " foreign levy," an invasion 
from abroad. 

30. Scan, giving " remembrance " four syllables. "Apply," pay 
special attention to. 

31. " Present him eminence," pay him the highest honor. 

32. The line is imperfect; probably the editors or the printers of 
the original edition are to blame. 

32, 33. The meaning is, — We are unsafe so long as we are com- 
pelled to maintain our" throne by flattering Banquo, 

34. " Visards," visors. Explain the figure. 

35. " Leave this," cease thinking after this manner. 

38. " Natures copy's not eterne ; " Clark and Wright say, 
" The deed by which man holds life of Nature gives no right to 
perpetual tenure," and they offer line 49 as a proof that Shake- 
speare intended a use of legal terms. However, the usual interpreta- 
tion, that " nature's copy," the human form, is not " eterne," eter- 
nal, seems better when it is considered that " are " may be the 
emphatic word in the next line. Macbeth knows that his wife 
means Banquo and Fleance will die, but he assumes to think she 
means that they can be murdered. This turn is quite the Shake- 
spearean manner. See Act T, Scene VII, lines 46, 47. 

41. " Cloister'd; " the bat, in the early evening, flies in the 
darkest places, as cloisters. " Hecate ; " see Act II, Scene I. 
line 52. 



128 XOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

42. " Shard-borne ; " the " shard " is the hard case of the beetle's 
wing that stands upright when it flics. 

43. Why " yawning " ? 

44. " Note," importance. 

45. " Chuck," an old term of endearment. 

46. " Seeling ; " when falconry was a popular sport, it was the 
custom to " seel " the eyes of the hawks, that is, to sew the lids 
together, until the birds were tamed. 

47. Explain the figure. 

49. " Bond," a legal document ; primarily, anything that binds. 

51. Clark and Wright interpret "rooky wood" to mean "the 
misty, gloomy wood." The usual interpretation, however, is the 
wood in which the rooks roost. 

52. " Droop and drowse," relax and become drowsy. 

55. The line is significant of Macbeth's future action. Explain. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. Show that the scene, though not 
one full of action, is, like others in the play, intense in its effect. 2. 
Hiecke says of the scene, " Of all the deeply tragic passages of this 
drama, this is the deepest. Unintentionally and unconsciously, there 
breathes from Macbeth's soul an echo of that happier time when the 
mutual esteem of a heroic pair was accompanied by the delicate 
attentions of first love. . . . This love, grown cold, was murdered 
in the murder of the King, and the tenderness in this scene is 
naught but a dirge, rising unconsciously from the soul, over the 
sentiments of an earlier time." On the other hand, Gervinus says 
the marriage of Macbeth and his lady was one of esteem rather 
than love. Discuss the question. 3. The scene expresses Macbeth's 
motive for further crime; what is it? 4. Contrast Lady Macbeth's 
mental condition, as shown in the speech beginning in line 4, with 
that in the murder scene. 5. The first four lines of this speech, 
it has been conjectured, rightly belong to Macbeth, who, on his 
entrance, mutters the words before seeing his wife. Is this right ? 
6. Why does Lady Macbeth change her train of thought when Mac- 
beth enters? 7. It is said that Miss Helen Faucet, when playing 
the part of Lady Macbeth, was accustomed to shudder at Macbeth's 
mention of "terrible dreams" (line 18). Consider, as the play 
progresses, whether such dreams ever came to her. 8, During 
much of this scene Modjeska is accustomed to stand with her hands 
on the shoulder of the actor who plays Macbeth, his arm being 
about her; as he pronounces line 45, her head sinks upon his 
shoulder, and she utters a sob of infinite despair. This action ex- 
presses perfectly the tone of the scene. 9. Lady Macbeth endured 
the horror of the murder; what is it she cannot endure? 10. 
Why does Macbeth not tell his wife what is to be done, and why 
does he not ask her advice and help? 11. Is it to his credit that 
he does not? 12. When Macbeth knows that the prophecies of 



ACT III. SCENE III. 129 

the weird women concerning himself have come true, and that the 
one concerning Banquo is as likely to do so, why does he attempt 
what would seem impossible, namely, the murder of Banquo and 
Fleance? See Scene I, lines 70 and 71, of this act. 13. Count the 
figures in Macbeth's speeches, and determine what ones are best 
from the standpoints of force, clearness, and beauty. 14. Make a 
paraphrase of one of the speeches, and note whether you can say 
all that Shakespeare says, and in as few words. This exercise will 
give a conception of the meaning of the term, " poetical conden- 
sation." 15. Is it not clear that Shakespeare intended Macbeth to 
be a poet? 

Scene III. 

Suggestion of Scene. A lonely road in the forest. In the last 
" streaks of day " the mass of trees in the background appears dark 
and impenetrable, while in the foreground and the left is a road, 
which, in the center of the stage, turns toward the right and rear, 
and becomes lost in the gloom of the wood. As the two murderers 
skulk behind the trees, the third comes stealthily in from the left ; 
and a moment later Banquo and Fleance, the latter carrying a torch, 
come down the forest road at the right. 

1, 2. See note on Scene I, line 129, of this act. 

2-4. To whom is this speech addressed? Is the antecedent of 
"he" Macbeth or the third murderer? What is the emphatic word 
in the first line of the speech? "Offices," duties. "Direction 
just," the directions exactly as they were given us. 

6. "Lated," belated. 

7. Explain " timely." 

10. " Note of expectation," the list of invited guests. 
Davenant thus changes the speeches of the murderers after the 
entrance of Banquo atfd Fleance : — 

1. Mur. Banquo, thou little thinkest zuhat bloody feast 

Is nozu preparing for thee. 

2. Mur. Nor to what shades the darkness of this night 

Shall lead thy wandering spirit. 

Compare this with the other quotations from Davenant's version. 
Compare it with Shakespeare's original. Does it not sound more 
like a great German poet than Shakespeare ? 

Questions on the Scene. 1. is it necessary to the dramatic 
effect of the play that the audience should see Banquo murdered? 
(Come back to this question after reading the next scene.) 2. 
Find all possible reasons for and against Macbeth being the third 
murderer. (The next scene must be considered.) 3. In line 11 it 



130 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

is stated that Banquo has sent his horses to the palace in a round- 
about way ; if Shakespeare had written for the modern stage, this 
would not have been necessary. Explain. 4. What action 'accom- 
panies the speech, " Let it come down," in line 16? 5. The scene 
begins with fearsome whispers ; rises suddenly to a pitch of fury, 
and suddenly descends into the silence of darkness and death. Ex- 
plain. 6. What is the merit of the scene as to dramatic force 
when compared with the scene in which Duncan is murdered? 



Scene IV. 

Suggestion of Scene. The scene is usually set thus : — In the 
rear the double-chaired throne. At right and left two long tables, 
one extending from near the throne, diagonally to the left and front 
of the stage ; the other extending from near the throne, diagonally 
to the right and front of the stage. At the latter table, near the 
front, is the chair in which the ghost is supposed to appear. 

For a reason that will appear as the scene progresses, the fol- 
lowing suggestion may be an improvement : — At the right and front 
of the stage stands the double-chaired throne, facing the left. A 
little farther back, occupying a large portion of the stage, is a 
long table set with bowls and dishes ; here and there an ancient 
lamp flickers feebly. About the table are the chairs of the guests, 
and at each end a large chair with high back. At the left of the 
stage, near the end of the table, a fire burns on an open hearth. 
As the fire is lower than the level of the table, the top of the latter 
is in shadow, and particularly the opposite end is wrapt in a gloom 
that is emphasized by the feeble flames of the antique lamps. 
Shadows dance upon the stone walls, and help provide the weird- 
ness so necessary to the scene. Several servants are in attendance. 
The royal procession enters ; the king leads the queen to the 
throne, but himself remains among his guests. 

1. " Degrees," ranks; at a state dinner the guests are placed at 
table with reference to rank. 

I, 2. "At first and last," once for all. 

5. "Keeps her state," keeps her seat on the throne. 

6. " Require," ask. 

Stage Direction. The murderer appears at a door near the 
front, on the left ; and Macbeth, as he walks about the table talking 
to his guests and directing the servants with hand and eye, can 
speak with him a moment without attracting too much attention. 
But in his fear he forgets, and remains too long. 

II. "Large," free. What word in the line may indicate that 
Macbeth has just caught sight of the murderer? 

14. The meaning is, — It is better for Banquo's blood to be on 
thy skin than in his. 



ACT III. SCENE IV. • 13 1 

19. " Nonpareil," unequaled. 

23. " Casing," encasing, enclosing. 

24. Explain the synonyms in the line. Why would not one ot 
these words do? _ ( 

25. " Observe the preposition ' to is used as it the word pris- 
oner ' had preceded." Clark and Wright. 

26. What word in the line is especially effective? 

27. " Trenched," cut. 
28.. " Nature," life. 

29. What is " the worm"? 

30. Explain " venom." 

w 32. " We'll hear, etc.," we'll speak together again. 

33 35. The idea is,— If you do not urge your guests to eat and 
enjoy' themselves, they will have no more pleasure than at an inn, 
where entertainment must be paid for. . 

36. " From thence," away from home. What three emphatic 
words in the line? 

37. " Bare," empty, not full of pleasure. 

Stage Direction. Macbeth's place is at the right end of the 
table. Let it be supposed that Lennox, who sits to the right of the 
middle of the table, with his back to the audience, rises and asks 
Macbeth to sit. Macbeth is standing to the left of Lennox, in such 
a position that Lennox hides from him the royal chair, in which the 
ghost is supposed to sit. The conversation then proceeds. When 
does Macbeth catch sight of the ghost? 

40. Explain " roof'd." 

41. " Graced," gracious. 

42. 43. Notice the hypocrisy of Macbeth. He says,— I shall tell 
Banquo that he remained away because he did not want to come 
rather than because he was prevented by accident. 

55. " Upon a thought," as quick as thought. ^ 

60. " O proper stuff ! " " mere or absolute nonsense, rubbish. 
Clark and Wright. 

61. Explain " painting." 

62. Explain " air-drawn." 

63. " Flaw," a gust of wind ; here, of passion. 

64. " Imposters to true fear ; " the idea is that Macbeth has no 
true reason for fear, but only a rrteon that is an imposter. 

66. "Authorized," sanctioned. Scan, accenting this word on the 
second syllable. . 

71. " Charnel-house," a house, usually built against the church, 
into which were thrown the bones dug up when new graves were 
prepared. 

73. " Maw," stomach. The idea is that if the dead come back 
after they have been buried, they will be eaten by kites, and will 
have no other tombs. 

76. " Humane statute, etc.," ere humane laws made murder a 



132 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

crime, and made the " weal " (state) gentle. " Gentle weal " in an 
example of prolepsis. 

81. " Mortal murders," deadly wounds. Why did Macbeth say 
" twenty " rather than some other number? 

85. " Muse," wonder at. 

92. "All to all," all blessings to all. 

95. " Speculation," intelligence. 

101. "Arm'd," that is, in a thick hide. " Hyrcan ; " Hyrcania was 
a country south of the Caspian Sea, where there were supposed to be 
tigers of unusual ferocity. 

105. " If trembling, etc." This passage has been much discussed. 
It probably means, — If I then remain at home, consider me, etc. 
" Baby of a girl," it has been conjectured, may mean a doll. 

107. " Mockery," false appearance, vision. 

no. "Admired," wonderful. 

in. "Overcome," come over, overshadow- 

112-116. "You make, etc." The meaning is in dispute, but it 
probably is, — You make me a stranger to my courageous disposition 
(that is, make me think that I no longer possess it), when you are 
not frightened with what makes my cheek pale with fear. " Owe." 
as elsewhere, means own. 

119. The line means, — Do not depart in the usual ceremonious 
manner, the highest in rank going first, and so forth. This would 
be a waste of time. 

123. "Stones, etc." Two explanations arc given of this: one 
that Shakespeare probably knew of some story of the stones above 
the grave of a murdered man moving, and so revealing the fact of 
murder ; the other that the Druids had certain stones that would 
move when touched by the innocent, but which could not be budged 
by the guilty. "Trees, etc.," probably an allusion to the story of 
Polydorus, "Virgil's ^Eneid, III, 22-68. 

124-126. Here is an allusion to the old Roman religion; the 
atigurs discovered the future and revealed secrets J)y the flight of 
birds. See Introduction to " Julius Caesar," of this series. " Mag- 
got-pies," magpies. 

126. " What is the night? " what time of night is it? 

127. "At odds;" the idea is that night and morning are con- 
testing as to which is supreme. 

128. 129. Macbeth asks his wife what she thinks of Macduff's 
refusing to come to the banquet. 

130. " By the way." indirectly. 

133. " Betimes," early. 

134. " Bent," determined. 

136. " All causes; " perhaps all causes or rights of other people. 

139. " That will to hand," that will soon be done. 

140. " Scann'd," examined closely. Macbeth says he must do 
the deeds before he has time to think them over ; otherwise he will 
not do them, 



ACT III. SCENE IV. t 133 

142. " Abuse," deception ; alluding to his seeing the " air drawn " 
ghost. 

143. " Initiate fear, etc.," the fear that accompanies the begin- 
ning of any course of guilty deeds. 

144. " In deed," that is, in the commission of deeds. 

Here are the meager materials (from Holinshed) from which 
the mighty imagination of the poet made this scene and the pre- 
ceding one : — 

" For the pricke of conscience (as it chanceth euer in tyrants, 
and such as atteine to anie estate by vnrighteous means) caused 
him euer to feare, least he should be serued of the same cup as he 
had ministered to his predecessor. The woords also of the three 
weird sisters, would not out of his mind, which as they promised 
him the kingdome, so likewise did they promise it at the same 
time vnto the posteritie of Banquho. He willed therefore the same 
Banquho with his sonne named Fleance, to come to a supper that 
he had prepared for them, which was in deed, as he had deuised, 
present death at the hands of certeine murderers, whom he had 
hired to execute that deed, appointing them to meete with the 
same Banquho and his sonne without the palace, as they returned to 
their lodgings, and there to slea them, so that he would not haue his 
house slandered, but that in time to come he might cleare himself, 
if anie thing were laid to his charge vpon anie suspicion that 
might arise. 

" It chanced yet by the benefit of the darke night, that though 
the father were slaine, the sonne yet by the helpe of almightie God 
reseruing him to better fortune, escaped that danger: and after- 
ward hairing some inkeling (by the admonition of some friends which 
he had in the court) how his life was sought no less thnn his 
fathers, who was slaine not by chancemedlie (as by the handling of 
the matter Makbeth woould haue had it to appeare) but euen upon a 
prepensed devise ; wlierevpon to avoid further perill he fled into 
Wales." 

Questions on the S eerie. i. Why do the events of the scene 
help the story along? 2. Should the scene begin with hilarity, or 
in an ominous silence? 3- How should the guests and the queen 
conduct themselves when the king is talking with the murderer? 
4. In the speech beginning in line 9, Macbeth suddenly lowers his 
voice; where and why? 5. What emotion should Macbeth express 
when' he learns that Banquo is dead? 6. What when he learns 
that Fleance has escaped? 7- What is the murderer's manner 
when he tells of Fleance's escape ? 8. Why is Macbeth still in fear ; 
that is, why does his " fit " come again ? 9. In the speech begin- 
ning in line 32, does the queen speak in a kindly manner or reprov- 
ingly? 10. In what speech docs Macbeth first see the ghost? ir. 
How do you account for the fact that no one sees the ghost but 



134 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

Macbeth? 12. What words in the text indicate the action of the 
ghost? 13. Should Macbeth speak to the ghost in a loud tone or a 
hoarse whisper? Which would better express the utter terror he 
feels? 14. After Ross has bid the guests rise, Lady Macbeth rises 
and descends from the throne, quaking with fear, but explaining to 
the guests in the sweetest of tones. At a certain place she lowers 
her tone and speaks fiercely; where and why? 15. Mrs. Siddons 
thus describes the action of Lady Macbeth at this point : " What 
imagination can conceive her tremors lest at every succeeding 
moment Macbeth, in his distraction, may confirm those suspicions, 
but ill-concealed under the loyal looks and cordial manners of their 
facile courtiers, when, with smothered terror, yet domineering 
indignation, she exclaims, upon his agitation at the ghost of 
Banquo, 'Are you a man?' Dying with fear, yet assuming the 
utmost composure, she returns to her stately canopy, and with 
trembling nerves, having tottered up the steps to her throne, that 
bad eminence, she entertains her wondering guests with frightful 
smiles, with over-acted attention, and with fitful graciousness ; 
painfully, yet incessantly, laboring to divert their attention from 
her husband. Whilst writhing thus under her internal agonies, her 
restless and terrifying glances towards Macbeth, in spite of her 
efforts to suppress them, have thrown the whole table into amaze- 
ment ; and the murderer then suddenly breaks up the assembly by 
the confession of his horrors." It has been said that " Macbeth " 
is too great a play to be acted ; does this quotation seem to put 
the acting of Lady Macbeth's part beyond the power of any actress? 

16. How do Macbeth and Lady Macbeth act when the ghost departs? 

17. At its second appearance the ghost sometimes holds a goblet, 
like Macbeth and the guests; what is the point to this? 18. At this 
reappearance, Macbeth drops his goblet, or dashes it to the floor, 
and addresses the ghost ; are his tone and his manner the same 
as before? 19. What finally drives Lady Macbeth to dismiss the 
guests? 20. If the scene thus far may be compared to a storm, 
to what may the rest of the scene be compared? 21. If the scene 
may be compared to a musical composition, where is the final climax, 
and where the coda? 22. Modjeska plays admirably the part after 
the departure of the guests : — As Macbeth sinks exhausted into a 
chair, Modjeska totters toward the throne, unclasping, as she goes, 
her royal robe, which falls to the floor. Reaching the throne, she 
puts her crown slowly down on the dais, looking at it the while as 
if to say, What a world of sorrow you have brought upon us. Di- 
vested of her insignia of royalty, she sinks into a chair, and remains 
for a time in the silence of exhaustion, when both she and her 
husband begin to turn slowly toward each other. When their eyes 
meet, they start guiltily, and the conversation follows in low tones 
of guilt and despair. 23. What mental state of Macbeth causes the 
ghost to appear? 24. Account for the disappearance of the ghost. 



ACT III. SCENE V. . 135 

25. Why does it appear a second time? 26. Account for its second 
disappearance. 27. In Shakespeare's time the part of the ghost was 
always played ; but Kemble conceived the idea that it was not artis- 
tic to present it to the eyes of the audience, so he glared at an 
empty stool ; what was his reason ? Other actors have followed 
him, even down to Sir Henry Irving and Madame Modjeska. Are 
they right? 28. Campbell says, — " But we are not Macbeth's guests. 
We are no more a part of their company than we are a part of 
the scenes or the scene-shifters. We are the poet's guests, invited 
to see Macbeth : to see what he sees, and to feel what he feels, 
caring comparatively nothing about the guests." What light does this 
throw on the subject? 29. Thomas Kean presented the ghost: it 
stalked in rapidly, its head and neck streaked with bloody wounds, 
and sat down suddenly in the full glare of the light. Was this 
effective? 30. Consider our Suggestion of Scene: The end of the 
table at which the ghost sits, in Macbeth's chair, is in the deep 
shadow thrown by the open fire ; the ghost appears there, covered 
with a thin gatize through which his wounds appear but faintly ; 
in the semi-darkness he is at first hardly to be distinguished from 
the living people about him. Would this manner of arranging the 
matter be free from objections? 31. Considering the fact that 
Shakespeare always strove for effect rather than consistency, is the 
presentation of the ghost defensible or not? 32. Some critics have 
said that the ghost that entered the second time was Duncan's, 
rather than Banquo's ; is this correct? 33. Before the murder of 
Duncan, and after, Lady Macbeth directed her husband's actions ; 
after the departure of the guests in this scene, she offers no advice: 
why? 34. At the end of this scene. Lady Macbeth might have 
reproached Macbeth; why did she not? 35. After the murder of 
Duncan, Lady Macbeth leads her husband away ; the reverse hap- 
pens here; why? 36. ^Reconsider the first question at the end of 
Scene III of this act. 37. Consider the scene from a poetic stand- 
point: do the most figures appear where the feeling is the highest? 
38. How does Shakespeare bind over the interest to a subsequent 
scene ? 

Scene V. 

Suggestion of Scene. The same as the first scene of the play. 
The time, let us suppose, is night ; and the moonshine streams 
through the dark fog that rises from the heath. At the end of the 
scene, Hecate mounts into the air, and vanishes. The witches, too, 
vanish thus, but in another direction. 

1. " Hecate," see note, Act II, Scene I, line 52. " Angerly," 
angrily. 

7. " Close," secret. 

15. "Acheron," a river in Greece; Shakespeare, however, means 



136 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

some pool in Scotland. Poets of his time were likely to use class- 
ical allusions carelessly. 

24. " Profound," probably having deep, or hidden powers. 

26. " Sleights," arts, tricks. 

29. " Confusion," destruction. 

32. " Security," carelessness. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. Consider carefully whether this scene 
is necessary to the story or to the dramatic effect. 2. If the three 
weird women were the goddesses of destiny of Norse mythology, 
what is gained by making them the servants of Hecate? 3. Shake- 
speare has been criticised for associating Hecate, a goddess of clas- 
sical mythology, with the witches; is the criticism just? 4. In line 
13 Hecate says Macbeth loves " for his own ends," and not for the 
witches; has he ever pretended to do otherwise? 5. Compare this 
scene with the former witch scenes, and determine whether they 
sound alike. 6. Many critics doubt the authenticity of the scene ; 
what reasons can you find ? 

Scene VI. 

Suggestion of Scene. Suppose the scene to be within the castle 
gate, which is seen in the center and rear — a massive piece of 
masonry. A wide passage leads through the tower of which it is 
a part ; at the farther end is seen the iron grating that protects the 
castle from sudden attack ; through it are seen the road and the 
grass plot beyond. By the gate stands a soldier on guard, keenly 
observing Lennox and a lord conversing in low tones in the fore- 
ground. 

1, 2. " Hit," agreed with. The idea is that Lennox did not 
say all he thought, but the lord could guess what was meant. 

3. " Borne," conducted. 

4. " Marry," an oath, formerly " Mary." See " Julius Cxsar " 
of this series, Act I, Scene II, line 231. 

8. " Want," lack, be without. There is a confusion here ; " not " 
should be omitted in the interpretation. Scan the line. 
10. Scan. " Fact," evil deed. 



1 1. 


" Straight," immediately. 


13. 


" Thralls," slaves. 


19. 


" An't," and if it. 


21. 


" Broad," plain-spoken. 


24. 


" Bestows," hides. 



25. " Holds the right of birth," keeps the crown, the birthright. 
27. " Pious Edward," Edward the Confessor. 
30. " Upon," with. 

35. The "from" seems to be misplaced; rearrange the line. 

36. " Free honors," honors of free men. 
38. " Elxasperate," exasperated. 



ACT IV. SCENE L 137 

39. What is the antecedent of "he"? 

40. Who said, "Sir, not I"? 

41. " Cloudy," sullen, according to Clark and Wright. How- 
ever, the word seems to mean mysterious, riddling, as the rest of the 
speech shows. " Me " is an ethical dative ; compare " pluck'd me 
ope his doublet," " Julius C?esar," Act I, Scene II, line 264. 

43. " Clogs," thwarts. 

44. " Advise him to a caution," warn him to be cautious. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. Why does the scene help the story 
along? 2. Point out the ironical parts of the scene. 3. The scene 
reveals Macbeth's reason for killing Duncan's grooms; what was it? 
4. In Lennox's first speech find an evidence of what he will do to 
antagonize Macbeth? 5. Show what part religion plays in the 
scene. 6. How is the interest held over to future scenes ? 

Questions on the Act. 1. The act reveals Macbeth's inner pun- 
ishment, and suggests the outer punishment that is to come ; ex- 
plain. 2. Where is the climax of the act? 3. If Macbeth were 
inclined to undo the evil he has done, could he do it now? 4. Has 
anything occurred to shake his belief in the power of the weird 
women to foretell the future? 5. Has anything occurred that might 
suggest to him Banquo's warning, — 

"And oftentimes, to zvin us to our harm. 
The instruments of darkness tells us truths, 
Win us tvith honest trifles, to betray' s 
In deepest consequence " ? 
6. Is there anything in the scene that foreshadows the end of the 
play ? 7. In the murder scene, Lady Macbeth says that if they 
think too much of their guilty deed, they will go mad ; from the 
nature of the two, which one is more likely to end in madness? 8. 
In what way has she changed since the night of the murder ? 9. 
Again, under what circumstances is she strong? 10. Could any 
scenes be omitted from the acting of the play, without perceptible 
loss of dramatic effect ? 

ACT IV. 

Scene I. 

Suggestion of Scene. A cavern in the solid rock, whose strata 
are revealed in rough layers in walls and roof. From the crevices 
glistening drops of water creep, hang a moment, then trickle down 
or fall upon the wet floor, splashing themselves into spray. At the 
right stands a great cauldron, from beneath which green and blue 
flames dart upward, and seem to lick up the foam that overflows from 
the " hell-broth " boiling and bubbling within. A faint, uncanny light 
is thrown about the rocky chamber, the walls of which recede to- 
ward the rear and disappear in impenetrable blackness. Suddenly 
the three weird women appear, as if through the solid earth above, 



138 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

while a peal of thunder comes crashing down from the upper world. 
They pause about the cauldron, utter their short speeches, then 
begin their incantations, the first witch first, standing behind the 
cauldron and facing the audience. As she speaks, she takes, one 
by one, the hellish ingredients from a pouch, and drops them into 
the brew, from which a blue, yellow, or green flame spurts fiercely 
up. When she has finished, the three circle about the cauldron, 
stirring it with their long staves, and reciting the couplet in concert. 
Then the second witch has her turn, facing the audience like the 
first ; then the third ; the second again, and the charmed liquor is 
done. Macbeth enters from the left — enters boldly, and defiantly 
makes his demand. As the weird three reply, they point their long 
fingers at him, and renew, for a brief moment, their incantations. 
afte» which the three apparitions, announced by peals of thunder, 
rise in their turn out of the cauldron, utter their deceptive speeches, 
and vanish. When Macbeth demands further knowledge of his un- 
happy future, the cauldron suddenly sinks, a ghostly light appears 
in the background, and " eight kings, the last with a glass in his 
hand, Banquo's ghost following," appear one by one, slowly filing 
past. This done, Macbeth suddenly finds himself alone, and dis- 
tressed at heart. 

i. " Brinded," brindled. What has the " cat " to do with the 
case? 

2. To this line Davenant adds, — 

" Shutting his eyes against the wind." 

Is the addition an improvement? 

Furness quotes Krauth : — 

" The urchin, or hedge-hog, is nocturnal in its habits, weird in its 
movements ; plants wither where it works, for it cuts off their roots. 
Fairies of one class were supposed to assume its form. ' Urchin ' 
came to mean ' fairy ' without reference to the hedge-hog shape ; 
hence, because fairies are little and mischievous, it came to be 
applied to a child." 

6. Scan, lengthening " cold " into two syllables. 

8. " Swelter'd venom," poison engendered by sweating. 

9. Scan. 

16. " Fork," forked tongue. 

17. " Howlet's," owlet's. 

19. Explain the significance of " hell-broth." 

23. " Mummy ; " mummies were formerly used as medicine. 
" Maw," stomach. " Gulf," stomach ; allied to gulp. 

24. " Ravin'd," gorged. 

28. " Sliver'd," peeled off. The noun is sliver. 

32. " Slab," slimy. 

33. " Chaudron," entrails. 



ACT IV. SCENE I. . 139 

43. " Black spirits, etc. ; " the song is taken from Middleton's 
" Witch," and is as follows : — 

"Black spirits and white, 
Blue spirits and gray, 
Mingle, mingle, mingle. 
You that mingle may." 

44. " Pricking ; " any pain in the body was a " sign " of some- 
thing. Even now, the itching of the nose or burning of the ear is a 
" sign." 

46, 47. What is the effect of the short lines? 

50. " Conjure;" does the word mean to pray earnestly or to 
work by magic? "That which you profess," — witchcraft. 

53. " Yesty," yeasty, frothy. 

55. " Bladed corn," " corn in the blade, before it is in the ear." 
Clark and Wright. " Lodged," laid, blown down. 

57. " Slope," bend. 

59. " Germans," germs. 

65. " Farrow," litter. 

68. " Deftly," fitly. 

74. Explain " harp'd." 

82. What resemblance has this line to line 38, in Act I, Scene 
11? 

82, 83. What does Macbeth mean by saying he will " take a bond 
of fate"? 

87, 88. " The round and top of sovereignty " is the crown. 

90. How should " are " be pronounced ? 

92. " Birnam," a hill near Dunkeld, and twelve miles from 
Dunsinnan hill. On the latter is a ruin which, according to tra- 
dition, was Macbeth's castle. 

94. " Impress," presV into service as soldiers are taken by a 
press-gang. 

95. " Bodements," prophecies. 

98. " Lease of nature," the time allotted by nature — three-score 
and ten. 

Stage direction. " Glass," a magic mirror, in which the future 
was reflected. 

112. The Stuart kings are said to have been descended from 
Banquo. Clark and Wright observe, — " Mary Stuart is left out 
of the show." Why? 

116. "The crack of doom," "the thunder peal announcing the 
Last Judgement." Clark and Wright. 

120. " The ' two-fold balls ' here mentioned probably refer to 
the double coronation of James, at Scone and Westminster. The 
three scepters of course symbolize the three kingdoms, England, 
Scotland, and Ireland." 



i 4 o NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

122. " Blood-bolter'd," covered with clotted blood. 

129. "Antic," antique. 

133. Scan. 

143. " Anticipatest," preventest. 

144. " Flighty," fleeting. What is the meaning of this and the 
next line? 

146. " Firstlings," first-born desires. 

152. " Trace," follow. 

153. See note on lines 139 and 140, Act III, Scene IV. 



Questions on the Scene. 1. Show that the scene gives Macbeth 
new hope. 2. Point out all the details by which the scene is made 
weird. 3. What words and phrases in the witch parts indicate that 
mischief is being prepared? 4. In the acting of the play the part 
of Hecate is omitted; why? 5. In line 40 what " gains " are meant? 
What reason for the use of the word is there other than the necessity 
of a rime? 6. Does this speech of Hecate sound like the speeches 
of the witches ? 7. In what manner does Macbeth address the weird 
women? 8. Show that their answer is a skillful one. 9. Consid- 
ering the character of the beings whom Macbeth is addressing, what 
significance is there in what he says about " churches " (line 53) ? 

10. What person in the play does each of the apparitions represent? 
(The evidence is found in their appearance and their speeches.) 

11. Why do the first and the second apparition address Macbeth 
three times? 12. Explain the significance of " harp'd " in line 74. 
13. What hope does Macbeth gain from the apparitions? 14. Is it 
now in his power to return to a life of innocence? 15. Notice 
that the weird women command Macbeth not to speak to the appari- 
tions ; does he obey? 16. Why does Macbeth's heart throb "to 
know one thing" (line 1 1 1 ) ? 17. Why do the weird women cause 
the cauldron to sink? 18. Does the "show of eight kings" pass 
before Macbeth speaks to them, or as he speaks? 19. In this speech 
does Macbeth show any fear of the weird women ? 20. What is 
there in the speech to indicate Banquo's ghost's appearance at the 
banquet? 21. Ordinary witches were supposed to harm only the 
body ; what more can these weird women harm ? 22. Notice that 
in this scene and in the second witch scene in Act I, the three women 
use the ordinary incantations of witchcraft when they are alone, 
but on Macbeth's entrance their words have an elevation, a lofty 
tone that was not noticeable before; why is this? 23. Does the speech 
of the first witch beginning in line 125 sound like the rest? What 
conclusion do you draw? 24. In line 139 Macbeth curses all those 
that trust in witches; why then does he do so? 25. What resolu- 
tion does Macbeth make at the close of the scene? 26. By " sights " 
(line 155) does Macbeth mean witches and apparitions, or ghosts, 
such as Banquo's? 27. Why has the scene so much force? 



ACT IV. SCENE II. 141 

Scene II. 

Suggestion of Scene. A rough-walled room in an ancient castle. 
At the left a great bed, by which is a chair. In the middle of the 
room is a table with several chairs about it; upon the latter are 
thrown carelessly some articles of clothing — a woman's robes 
and a child's tartans. Lady Macduff, weeping and wringing her 
hands, sits by the table; her little son stands by her, trying in his 
childish way to give her comfort, while Ross stands near at hand, 
speaking and trying to control his emotion. 

4. The sentence will be plainer if seem be inserted after " us." 

7. " Titles," possessions. 

9. " Wants the natural touch," lacks the natural feeling. 

12. The line means, — Macduff is ruled entirely by his fear, and 
not at all by his love. 

15. " For," as for. 

17, " Fits o' the season," dangers of the time. 

18, 19. The meaning is, — when we are considered traitors, but 
do not know why. 

19, 20. The meaning probably is, — when we believe rumors of 
danger because we are afraid, although we have done nothing on 
account of which we should be afraid. 

22. " Each way and move ; " the expression is not well under- 
stood, and is probably corrupt. 

25. Whom does Ross address as "pretty cousin"? 

28, 29. Ross fears that he will give way to unmanly tears. 

30. " Sirrah," a term used to inferiors ; also a term of affection 
to children. 

34. " Lime," birdlime, a sticky substance which was smeared on 
the branches of trees ; as the birds roosted on the branches, the lime 
hardened and held them prisoners. 

35. " Gin," snare. * k 

36. What word receives the emphasis? 

47. " Swears and lies," " swears allegiance and perjures himself. 
The boy . . . uses ' liars ' and ' swearers ' in the ordinary sense." 
Clark and Wright. 

56. " Enow," enough, was used with plural nouns ; enough with 
singular. 

58. " Monkey," a term of affection. 

65. The line means, — though I know your rank. 

66. " Doubt," suspect, fear. 

67. " Homely," humble. 

70. The line means, — It would be fiendish cruelty not to tell 
you of the danger that approaches. 
75. " Sometime," sometimes. 
80. What " place " does Lady Macduff mean ? 
82. Explain " shag-hairU" " Egg ; " is this word used in the 



142 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

sense of insignificance, or in the sense that Macbeth uses " worm " 
in Act III, Scene IV, line 29? 

83. " Fry; " in which of the two senses is this word used? 

Questions on the Scene. 1. Is the murder of Lady Macduff and 
her son a necessary step in the story? 2. Schiller omitted the scene 
from his translation; can you conjecture the reason? 3. Determine 
why a portion of the scene is comedy. Compare it in this respect 
with another scene of the play. 4. What is there in the scene that 
makes Macbeth's crime seem doubly atrocious? 5. How does the 
scene compare in literary merit with the rest of the play? 

Scene III. 

Suggestion of Scene. The palace of Edward the Confessor stood 
in Westminster, where the Parliament buildings now stand. One 
portion of this palace was the old House of Lords, in the cellar of 
which was placed the gunpowder in the famous plot of Guy Fawkes. 
This room had long before been the kitchen of King Edward. The 
building was pulled down in 1823. 

The scene is before the great door of the palace. Two soldiers 
stand on guard. Malcolm and Macduff are seen descending the 
steps. They pause near the front of the stage, and the scene 
begins. 

3. " Mortal," deadly. 

4. " Bestride, etc. ; " the figure is taken from battle ; a soldier in 
defending a wounded comrade would stand astride the prostrate 
form. So Macduff fancies himself standing over the personified form 
of his country. 

5. Find a degenerate word in the line. 
8. " Syllable," word, cry. 

10. " To friend," friendly. 

12. " Sole name," mere name. 

14. " He hath not touch'd you yet; " what does Malcolm mean to 
imply by this? 

14, 15. Explain carefully. After " wisdom " supply it is. 

16. Who is the "innocent lamb"? 

17. Who is the " angry god"? 

19. "Recoil," that is, from goodness; become bad. 

20. " Imperial charge," command from a king. 

21. The line means, — If you are a good man, my suspecting you 
cannot make you bad. 

22. 24. The thought is, — Though some good men have become 
bad, they still appear good ; and though all bad men might appear 
to be good, yet the good men could not seem to be any better than 
they were before. Malcolm is, of course, hinting that Macduff has 
allowed Macbeth to persuade him to come as a spy, and perhaps to 
decoy him (Malcolm) back into Scotland. 



ACT IV. SCENE III. I43 

24, 25. Explain Malcolm's turn upon Macduff's speech. 

26. " Rawness," haste. 

29, 30. " Jealousies," suspicions. Malcolm means,— Don't think 
trial my suspicions are due to anything dishonorable I have heard 
of you ; I am cautious merely out of regard to my own safety. 

34. "Afieer'd," confirmed. 

51, 52. "Grafted." " open'd ; " the figure is taken from the cul- 
tivation of fruit trees. Explain. 

55- " Confineless," boundless. 

57. " Top," surpass. 

59- " Sudden," violent. 

64. " Continent," restraining. 

67. " In nature ; " Furness quotes Delius : " This belongs to 
' tyranny ; ' such organic intemperance is compared with the politi- 
cal tyranny of Macbeth." 

71. " Convey," perhaps a misprint for " enjoy." 

72. " The time, etc.," so may you deceive all. 

77- " Ill-composed affection," disposition composed of evil. 

78. " Stanchless," not to be stanched, insatiable. 

80. " His," that one's. 

82. " Forge," devise, trump up. 

86. " Summer-seeming," befitting the summer. 

88. " Foisons," plenty. 

89. " Portable," bearable. 

90. " With other, etc." when weighed against by other graces. 
93. Scan, changing the accent of " perseverance." 

95- " Relish," flavor. 

99- " Uproar," a verb, meaning disturb. 
100. "Unity," peace. 

104. " Untitled," not having a legal title. 

105. " Wholesome." healthful. 
108. " Blaspheme," slander. 

in. "Died every day she lived." " Every day of her life was a 
preparation for death; alluding probably to 1 Cor. xv. 31, ' I die 
daily.' " Clark and Wright. 

116. "Scruples," suspicions. 

118. "Trains," tricks, devices, such as sending spies. 

119, 120. "Modest wisdom, etc." caution prevents me from being 
hasty to believe in the words of messengers from Scotland. 

123. " Unspeak my own detraction," retract all the evil I said - 
against myself. 

125. " For," in the sense of as. 

126. " Forsworn," perjured. 

135. "At a point," prepared. 

136, 137. " The chance, etc.;" the meaning probably is, — May the 
outcome (" chance ") of our good cause be as favorable as our 
quarrel is justifiable. 



144 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

138. Another antithesis. 

142. " Stay his cure," wait to be cured by him. " Convinces," 
defeats. 

143. " The great assay of art," the attempts of the physician's art. 
146. " Evil," the king's evil, scrofula. It was believed that King 

Edward could cure this disease by a touch. James I thought the 
same magic power had descended to him, and it has been conjec- 
tured that this passage in the play was inserted as a compliment to 
him. 

149. " Solicits," entreats. 

150. " Strangely-visited," afflicted with strange diseases. 
153. " Golden stamp," golden coin. 

163. What "means" does Malcolm mean? 

164. " Stands Scotland, etc." This sentence is strong because of 
its suggestiveness. Explain. 

16.5. "Almost afraid to know itself;" perhaps, almost afraid to 
think upon its condition. 

167. " But who knows nothing," mere children. " Once," ever. 

169. " Mark'd," observed. 

170. " Modern ecstasy," common disease. 

172. It was an ancient custom for men to stick flowers in the 
bands of their hats, where, of course, they soon withered under 
the glare of the sun. 

173. Another antithesis. " Relation," a thing related; a narrative. 

174. " Nice," accurate, minute. 

178, 179. Explain the play upon words in these lines. 

183. "Out," that is, in the field; in arms. 

184. " Witness'd," proved. 

188. " Doff," a contraction of do off, as don is of do on, and 
dout of do out. 

195. " Latch," catch. 

196. " Fee-grief." Land is owned in two ways in England, in 
entail and in fee-simple. Land held in entail must pass down from 
father to the oldest son, or nearest heir ; that held in fee-simple is 
the possession of one person without regard to his heirs, and may 
be disposed of at his pleasure. Explain the meaning of " fee-grief." 

206. " Quarry," dead game. What comment may be made on 
" deer " ? 

210. " O'er-fraught," over-laden. 

216. Is Macbeth or Malcolm the antecedent of " he"? 

220. " Dispute it," strive against it — your sorrow. 

22,2. " Intermission," delay. 

234, 235. These words have been highly praised for their force, 
which arises from the extreme condensation. The meaning is, — If 
he escapes my sword — so sure am I that he will not — then I am 
willing to forgive him and to pray God to forgive him. 



ACT V. SCENE I. ' 145 

237. " Our lack, etc.," we lack no preliminary to our departure 
but to bid farewell to the king. 

238. " Powers above," probably heavenly powers. 

239. " Put on, etc.," urge on our forces. The line is an Alex- 
andrine ; scan. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. It has been observed that Shake- 
speare wrote this scene because he realized that he had not 
given sufficiently important parts to the actors who play the parts of 
Malcolm and Macduff. If this be so, the poet ran the risk of break- 
ing the unity of the play. Is the observation just, and is the unity 
of the play disturbed? 2. It is conjectured that the part of the 
scene in which Edward the Confessor's power to cure the king's evil 
is described, was inserted as a compliment to James I, on the occa- 
sion of the play being represented at court. Does the digression dis- 
turb the unity of the scene? 3. Is the insertion, if it be such, in 
Shakespeare's manner? 4. Is the account of the murder of Mac- 
beth's family necessary to the story? 5. Is Edward's promise of 
troops to fight against Macbeth necessary to the story ? 6. What is 
Malcolm's reason for deceiving Macduff as to his own character? 
7. Why does Malcolm undeceive him? 8. Is Malcolm's falsehood 
excusable ? 9. Compare Macduff's expressions of grief with his 
horror at the murder of Duncan (Act II, Scene III). What is the 
significance of the difference in the length of his speeches? 10. Why 
does not Ross tell his news at once, instead of deceiving Macduff 
for a moment? 11. Fancy the manner of the two men as this part 
of the scene proceeds. 12. What action of Macduff that is indicated 
in the lines, makes Malcolm fear that the grief is too heavy for him 
to bear? 13. Find two puns in the lines. Do they disturb the dig- 
nity of the scene? 14. What evidences are there that the end of 
the play is approaching? 

ACT V. 

Scene I. 

Suggestion of Scene. Modjeska uses for this scene the same 
stage setting used in the murder of Duncan, and we follow her in 
this, ignoring, for the sake of effect, the fact that the murder was 
committed at Inverness rather than Dunsinane. The gaunt, bare 
room is obscured in the gloom of night. At the right the doctor 
and the gentlewoman talk in low tones until, in the great door at 
the back, the white-robed figure of the unhappy queen appears, when 
they move back into the deeper shadows. Lady Macbeth carries a 
taper, which illumines her face, making it the one bright object in 
the surrounding darkness. Her hair hangs loosely over her shoul- 
ders and down her back. Her eyes are open, but they have the 
steady, vacant stare of one who is asleep. Her face is ghastly 
white, drawn in lines of remorse and deadly fear. She pauses 



146 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

before she descends the two steps that lead down to the main level 
of the room, and seems to listen ; true to the habit of persons in 
great terror, she holds her breath until she can hold it no longer, 
then expels it with force, and one knows that her heart is beating 
with the quickness of madness. All the while she rubs the hand 
that holds the candle, as if she would remove something from it. 
Slowly advancing, her heavy breathing continuing and her breast 
heaving, she approaches the stone table, sets the light upon it, 
stoops, and seems to dip up water from an " air-drawn " basin, and 
la,ve her hands. Then a groan of despair is heard, and there come, 
in a low, remorseful tone, the words, " Yet here's a spot." * 
5. " Nightgown," dressing gown. 

7. Of what is Lady Macbeth thinking when she writes? 
, 10. ''Effects," acts; "watching," waking. 

25. " Their sense is shut ; " explain. 

46. " Go to, go to," equivalent to our come, come ; an exclama 
tion of scorn. 

50. " Smell." Furness quotes Verplanck, who says that there 
is but one other scene in all dramatic literature in which the sense 
of smell is used " as a means of impressing the imagination with 
terror, pity, or any of the deeper emotions." This is found " in the 
Agamemnon of ^Eschylus, where the captive prophetess, Cassandra, 
wrapt irl visionary inspiration, scents first the smell of blood, and 
then the vapors of the tomb breathing from the palace of Atrides, 
as ominous of his approaching murder." 

53, 54. " Sorely charged," heavily burdened. 

56. " Dignity," royal rank. 

57, 58. Another turn on a word. 

72, 73. " Infected minds, etc. ; " explain. 

74. " Divine," priest. 

76. " Means of all annoyance," " all means by which she might 
do herself harm." Clark and Wright. 

78. " Mated," a figure from the game of chess ; beaten. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. In this scene Lady Macbeth receives 
the reward of her crime, and disappears from our sight. What is 
there as to her condition that makes the scene appeal all the more 
powerfully to our sympathy? 2. What speech of hers, in the scene 
in which Duncan is murdered, makes madness seem to be her just 
and logical punishment? 3. Modjeska's acting of this scene is per- 
fect. Consider her tone when she says, " Out, damned spot." Is 
it loud or soft, fast or slow? Of what part of the murder scene is 
Lady Macbeth thinking? 4. At the words, "One: two:" Mod- 
jeska's voice rings out like the clear strokes of a bell. Of what is 
the queen thinking? 5. One editor says that the words, " Hell is 
murky \ " are pronounced scornfully, as if Lady Macbeth were 
repeating Macbeth's words, meaning to reprove him for uttering 
them. Is this right? 6. In what manner should "Fie, my lord, 



ACT V. SCENE II. 147 

fie J etc.," be pronounced? 7. Modjeska utters each of the speeches 
in the most effective manner, giving it the proper tone, speed, and 
modulation to indicate what is passing in the queen's mind ; some- 
times emitting a pitiful moan, and, between speeches, such sigh- 
ings and mutterings as trouble people in guilty dreams ; sometimes 
she seems to swallow, as sleeping people do. Consider each of the 
short speeches, and determine how they should be read, and what is 
passing in the queen's mind. 8. What words near the end should be 
read with extreme speed and in great, but suppressed excitement? 
9. Picture her movements as she leaves the stage. 10. Account 
for the extreme dramatic force of the scene, considering that it is 
very quiet. 1 1. Who seems to have suffered the most — Lady Mac- 
beth or Macbeth himself? 12. Lady Macbeth does not seem to have 
confided her coming madness to Macbeth, while he has confessed 
his sorrow to her ; what does this shQw as to the relative strength 
of the two characters? 13. Is there anything in the scene to show 
whether she was ambitious for herself or for her husband? 14. Is 
there in the scene any slight evidence of her affection for him ? 
15. Now that we have seen Lady Macbeth for the last time, consider 
whether she was a coarse, unfeeling woman, or one of a refined 
and delicate nature. 16. Reconsider her personal appearance. 17. 
Why is the scene written in prose form? 18. Is the scene strong 
poetically? 

Scene II. 

Suggestion of Scene. The open country, heather-grown and hilly. 
The Scottish soldiers, clad in their native war costumes (see 
Suggestion of Scene, Act I, Scene II) throng about their officers, 
and rend the air with their shouts when they learn that the Eng- 
lish power is near. At the end of the scene, they hastily form 
ranks, and move forward at a swinging pace, singing as they go. 

3. " Dear causes," causes dear to each. What was Malcolm's? 
Macduff's? 

5. " Mortified ; " the word is defined in two ways, — dead, and 
ascetic. Explain the latter word. 

8. " File," list. 

10. " Unrough youths," youths with no beards. 

11. ''Protest," display. What is "their first of manhood"? 
15. " Distemper'd," disorganized, uncontrolled. Explain this line 

and the next. Why is the speech particularly suitable to a soldier? 

17. What figure in "murders"? 

18. " Minutely," every minute. 

19. Here again we find the same word used in two senses. Ex- 
plain. 

23. " Pester'd," troubled, harassed ; " recoil," give way, become 
afraid. 

27. Who is the "medicine"? "Weal," state. 



148 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

30. Explain " sovereign flower " and " weeds." 

Questions on the Scene. 1. Is the scene necessary in the repre- 
sentation of the play ? 2. What is the dramatic effect of the mention 
of Birnam wood in lines 5 and 31? 3. Is the scene written in 
Shakespeare's manner ? 

Scene III. 

Suggestion of Scene. As this act goes very rapidly, the frequent 
change of scene indicated in the stage directions is impracticable. 
Besides this, the matter of expense deters modern managers 
from making elaborate settings for so many scenes. Scenes III, V, 
VI, VII, and VIII (if they are all played) are, therefore, all counted 
as one, and this is usually represented as a terrace of Macbeth's 
castle — a broad space, with a tower rising at the right and rear, 
from which extends a battlemented wall to the extreme left. Be- 
yond this may be seen the distant hills. 

I. " Them," the thanes. 

3. " Taint ; " in the passive sense. 

5. " Mortal consequences," all things that will happen to mortal 
men. 

8. " English epicures ; " the Scotch accused their English cousins 
of too great a fondness for good eating and drinking; the English 
could not return the accusation against the people who lived on 
the barren hills and moors of Scotland. 

9. " Sway by," guide myself by. 

10. " Sag," droop. 

II. " Loon," a worthless fellow. 

14. What figure in "fear"? 

15. " Lily-liver'd ; " cowards were supposed to have white livers. 
" Patch," fool, alluding to the patched garments worn by the court 
jester. 

17. " Counsellors to fear," " suggest fear in the minds of those 
who behold them." Clark and Wright." 

20. " Push," assault. 

21. The line is corrupt. In some editions " disseat " is " dis- 
ease ; " in another, " cheer " is " chair." 

22. Johnson conjectured that the w of "way" was an m in- 
verted ; he thus changed the line to correspond with the figure in the 
next line. 

2$. " Sere," dry, withered. 

27, 28. Explain these lines carefully. " Deny," refuse. 

35. " Moe," more ; " skirr," scour. 

42. " Raze out," obliterate. Macbeth compares his brain to a 
scholar's tablet. 

43. " Oblivious," causing forgetfulness. 



ACT V. SCENE IV. 149 

44. Again the use of the same word in two ways. 

47. " Physic," medicine. 

.55. " Senna," a plant used as a medicine. 

59. " Bane," destruction. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. Is the scene important because of 
tne light it throws on Macbeth's mental state, or because of the 
events it pictures ? 2. Describe Macbeth's looks and manner as 
he enters. 3. Would it not be suitable for a few streaks of gray to 
be seen in his hair? 4. Is Macbeth as full of confidence as he 
asserts himself to be? 5. Show that his anger at the servant's fear 
is a reflex of his own mental condition. 6. Explain the weariness 
of life which Macbeth expresses in the speech beginning in line 
19. 7. What ''thick-coming fancies" are meant in line 38? 8. 
How is Macbeth affected by the speech in which this expression 
occurs ? 9. What evidences of extreme agitation are found in the 
speech beginning in line 47? 10. Does Macbeth believe what he 
says as he leaves the stage? 11. What is the dramatic effect of 
the doctor's speech at the end of the scene? 12. What line in the 
scene is most frequently quoted? 13. Find the best passages of 
poetry in the scene. 14. How do these passages compare with other 
line passages elsewhere in the play? 15. Select the most effective 
figures. 16. What evidences are there that the end of the play 
is approaching? 

Scene IV. 

Suggestion of Scene. The open country. A wooded hill in the 
right distance. The soldiers appear at the left, and march diago- 
nally toward the right, shouting and singing. At Malcolm's com- 
mand to hew down boiighs to carry before them, they pause, cry 
out a loyal reply and march onward. 

2. " Chambers," sleeping rooms ; of course Malcolm alludes to his 
father's murder. 

5. " Shadow," conceal. 

6. " Discovery," " reconnoitering, the report of scouts." Clark 
and Wright. 

9. " Endure," stand. 

10. '' Setting down," siege. 

11. 12. The meaning of these two lines is not clear; perhaps 
it is, — When there is opportunity to desert, both great and small have 
uone so. 

13. " Constrained," forced. 

14, 15. " Let our, etc." let us know the outcome of the fight 
before we pass final judgment on the loyalty of Macbeth's soldiers. 

18. The line seems to mean, — what rights we shall have, and 
what allegiance we shall owe to a just king. 



150 NOTES AND QUESTIONS. 

19, 20. The meaning is, — It is useless to speculate about the re- 
sult; only the battle will decide the matter. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. What necessary event of the story 
does the scene contain ? 2. Is it necessary for the scene to be 
played? 3. Is the scene written in Shakespeare's best manner? 4. 
Does the obscurity of expression aid the effect? 5. Suppose that 
at the end of the scene, the soldiers, having procured branches from 
the trees, wave them in the air and shout as the curtain falls. 
Would the effect be good ? 

Scene V. 

Suggestion of Scene. The same as Scene III. Macbeth rushes 
in, shouting out his orders ; within the tower is heard, for a mo- 
ment, the preparation for battle ; then silence, and " a cry of 
women." 

5. " Forced," reinforced. 

10. "Cooled;" the chilling of the body is one of the physio- 
logical effects of fear, but it seems strange to say the " senses " 
become cool. It is conjectured that the line is corrupt. 

11. "Fell of hair," scalp. 

12. " Treatise," story. 
15. " Start," startle. 

18. Macbeth probably means that Lady Macbeth has died too 
early ; perhaps he hopes that even yet there may have been hap- 
piness for her ; besides, in his present straits, he needs her sorely. 
Another interpretation is that Macbeth, wholly disappointed in life, 
says indifferently, — Well, if she had not died now, she would have 
died hereafter; life is a failure anyway, so what matters it? Which 
is the better interpretation? 

40. " Cling," wither ; " sooth," truth. 

42. " Pull in," rein in, as one does a horse. 

47. "Avouches," asserts. 

50. " Estate," settled order, stability. In his own foreseen de- 
struction, Macbeth wishes the destruction of the world. 

52. " Harness," armor. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. Explain the reason of the great 
dramatic force of the scene. 2. What is Macbeth's manner as he 
enters? Is he in the violence of despair, or is he defiant and confi- 
dent? 3. What is the dramatic effect of the "cry of women"? 
4. What is Macbeth's state of mind when he hears the cry? 5. 
Explain the mental processes by which he attained this mental con- 
dition? 6. When he says, "I have supp'd full with horrors" (line 
13), is he not thinking of a particular scene in the play? 7. An 
editor suggests that instead of Seyton announcing the queen's death, 



ACT V. SCENE VII. ' 151 

a servant should enter and whisper in Macbeth's ear. Would this 
improve the effect? 8. Explain the pathos of Macbeth's situation 
when he hears of his wife's death and comments upon it. 9. Is the 
soliloquy one of a man who has found life a success? 10. Why is 
it suitable to the dramatic effect that she died first? 11. Who is 
responsible for Macbeth's life being a failure? 12. Show that the 
general tone of that part of the scene between lines 7 and 29 is 
different from that of the rest of the scene. 13. In what attitude 
does the messenger deliver his message? 14. What is his manner? 
15. What is the dramatic effect of line 34? 16. To what scene does 
it carry the audience back? 17. What action accompanies the ex- 
clamation, "Liar and slave" (line 35)? 18. Describe Macbeth's 
manner as he begins his next speech. 19. At a certain place in this 
speech, it would be suitable for Macbeth to go to the battlements, 
shade his eyes with his hand, and look away into the distance ; 
where and why? 20. Describe the changes in his manner through- 
out the speech. 21. What is the dramatic effect of the ringing of 
the " alarum-bell " ? 22. Does Macbeth's clinging to life indicate 
fear of the life to come? 23. The scene is remarkable for its 
poetical as well as its dramatic effect. Consider the speech begin- 
ning in line 17. Count the figures. Write out the speech in your 
own words, and determine whether you can express so much in so 
few words. 24. Lines 47-50 have been pronounced weak. Do you 
think so ? Would the speech be stronger without them ? 25. What 
figure is taken from Shakespeare's own profession ? 

Scene VI. 

Suggestion Of Scene. Before the castle — according to the stage 
direction. However, if ( the scene is played at all, the setting is 
the terrace of the castle, the same as in the case of several other 
scenes of the act. 

2. " Show," appear. 

4. " Battle," division of the army. 

10. " Harbingers," see note on Act I, Scene IV, line 45. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. What have the "leafy screens" to 
do with the story? 2. Is the acting of this scene necessary? 

Scene VII. 

Suggestion of Scene. The terrace of the castle. 

1, 2. Shakespeare's plays have frequent allusions to bear-baiting, 
a fact that is due to the popularity of the sport in his time, but 
partly, no doubt, to the nearness of the Bear Gardens to his theater 
in Southwerk. The play must have been interrupted frequently by 
the growls of the bear that was tied to a stake, and the bark- 



152 NOTES HND QUESTIONS. 

ing of the dogs that were set upon him in relays or " courses " until 
he was dead. 

17. " Kerns," see Act I, Scene II, line 13. 

20. " Undeeded," without having accomplished a deed. " There " 
should receive a strong emphasis; why? 

22. " Bruited," noised, announced. 

24. " Gently render'd," surrendered without a hard struggle. 

29. " That strike beside us," " i. e., deliberately miss us." Clark 
and Wright. 

Questions on the Scene. 1. What that is essential to the story 
is in the scene? 2. What is the dramatic purpose of Macbeth's 
slaying of young Siward? 3. To what hope is Macbeth clinging? 
4. What is Macduff's feeling toward Macbeth? 5. How will this 
feeling heighten the effect when the two finally meet ? 6. What does 
line 25 show of Macbeth's ability as a ruler? 

Scene VIII. 

Suggestion of Scene. The terrace of the castle. Macbeth rushes 
in holding his sword by the point, hilt down, and is about to fall 
upon it, when he changes his mind and concludes to fight further. 
On all sides are heard the shouts of victory. 

1. " Roman fool; " it was an ancient Roman custom to kill one's 
self at the time of defeat. 

2. " Lives," living persons. 
5. " Charged," burdened. 

8. " Than terms, etc.," than words can express. 

9. " Intrenchant," not to be cut. 
11. "Crests," helmets. 

13. " Despair," " despair of." Clark and Wright. 

14. " Angel," the guardian angel ; in this case an evil one, of 
course. " Still," ever. 

18. "Better part of man," better part of manhood — courage. 
20. " Palter," equivocate. 

24. " Gaze," thing to be gazed at. 

26. " Painted upon a pole ; " that is, upon a " cloth suspended on 
a pole, as in front of a wild-beast show." Clark and Wright. 

29. " Baited ; " another allusion to " bear-baiting." 

32, 33- " Before my body, etc." This sentence is supposed by 
one editor to be an interpolation. Can you see any reasons for the 
supposition ? 

36. " Go off," die. 

39. " Has paid, etc.," has died. 

42. " Unshrinking station," the station, or place, from which 
he would not shrink, or retreat. 

56. " Pearl " means whom? 

61. " Reckon with, etc.," reward you for your loyalty. 



ACT V. SCENE VIII. 153 

Questions on the Scene. 1. The play is now brought to an end; 
what events satisfy the demands of dramatic justice? 2. Show that 
the manner of Macbeth's death was suitable to the manner ot 
his life. 3. In the beginning of the scene, what is the dramatic 
ertect of Macbeth's apparent intention to kill himself? 4. What is 
the dramatic effect of the entrance of Macduff? 5. What is the 
manner of the two men as they confront each other? 6. As they 
fight the first time, which one seems to have the advantage ? 7. 
Macduff readily understands Macbeth's statement, " I bear a 
charmed life ; " in their day, knights who were about to fight in a 
tournament were compelled to take oath that they did not use 
charmed weapons, which were supposed to have great efficacy. So 
Macduff understands the full import of the situation. With what 
voice and manner, then, does he pronounce the speech beginning in 
line 13? 8. Macbeth's last hope is taken away by this speech ; whom 
does he blame for his unhappy lot ? Why ? 9. What motive con- 
strains him to fight in spite of certain death? 10. Compare old 
Siward's expressions of grief at the death of his son with Mac- 
duff's at the news of his wife's and children's death ; in what way 
are they alike? Which had the more severe grief? Why? 11. 
Macduff enters with Macbeth's head on a pole, according to the 
stage directions ; what is the action of the people on the stage, and 
what is the effect on the audience? 12. The last scene is usually 
cut in the acting ; the part that is left out is considered by some 
critics to have been written by some other hand than Shakespeare's : 
so the actors and the critics agree. Considering the matter of 
dramatic effect and that of literary style, determine where the 
scene should end. 13. What change in a stage direction should 
be made in order to correspond? 14. Does any such expression as 
" fiend-like " occur elsewhere in the play as descriptive of Lady 
Macbeth? What is the deduction? 

Questions on the Act. 1. Indicate what events in the act bring 
the play to a logical end. 2. Is the act swift or slow? If both, 
wnere? 3. What reason is there for the act being as it is in this 
respect? 4. What scenes are not absolutely necessary? 5. Would 
it be well to leave out all that are not absolutely necessary ? 6. 
Would not such omissions be more suitable in this act than in any 
other ? 

GENERAL QUESTIONS ON THE PLAY. 

Macbeth. 1. Can the nature of Macbeth's education be con- 
jectured from the play? Was it practical or scholastic? How 
did he get his training for his royal duties? 2. Was the religious 
part of his education neglected? 3. Was his education such as 
would fit him to decide a great moral question? 4. Was his nature 
such as would enable him to decide such? 5. Tell what influences 



154 GENERAL QUESTIONS ON THE PLAY. 

aided him to decide the great question of his life ? 6. Did Shakespeare 
intend to show that the possibility of a return to a moral life was 
or was not always open to him ? 7. What would have been the 
effect on the importance of Macbeth's part in the play if Lady 
Macbeth had been the first to suggest the crime? Is there any rea- 
son to believe that Macbeth was a good man before his great tempta- 
tion came? 8. Explain the reason of our sympathy for Macbeth, 
in spite of our disapproval of his deed. 9. What qualities had 
Macbeth that are not usually associated with a murderous char- 
acter? 10. It would be interesting to look up the history of the real 
Macbeth and determine whether Shakespeare has done him justice or 
injustice. 

Lady Macbeth. 1. What can be conjectured as to the nature of 
Lady Macbeth's education ? 2. How could her manner of life have 
trained her to form the resolution to kill the king, and to stick to 
it so persistently? 3. Is there any reason for believing that she 
had been guilty of previous crime? 4.- What was her motive for 
urging on Macbeth to commit the crime ? Was it selfish or unselfish ? 

5. In the beginning of the play, we see her filled " with direst 
cruelty;" in the end of the play, insane from the effect of the 
" terrible dreams " which shook her and her husband nightly. 
Shakespeare provided, in one scene, against the step seeming too 
sudden ; explain. Why was insanity the natural outcome of her life 
as death by the sword was the natural outcome of Macbeth's? 6. 
Is the character a lovable one? 7. Is the reader inclined to forgive 
her crime ? Why ? 8. Does the play reveal any love that Lady 
Macbeth had for her husband ? 9. Shakespeare is often praised 
because his characters are not puppets — not mere abstractions of 
vices or virtues ; but real people, with a variety of characteristics, 
one of which is predominant. Lady Macbeth's predominant trait 
was will exerted for evil ; what other qualities had she, especially 
what womanly qualities? 10. In what ways is she a contrast to 
Macbeth ? 

The Weird Women. 1. What conclusion have you come to about 
the two conceptions of these wild creatures? If they are the 
mysterious goddesses of destiny, why did Shakespeare cause them to 
use so freely the ritual of common witchcraft? 2. Should their 
dress and manner be those of witches or those of the higher 
powers? 3. Do they implant the evil thought in Macbeth's mind, 
or do they work on what is already there ? 4. Is their grip on 
Macbeth always too strong for him to shake off? 5. Do their scenes 
ring true ? Does it seem that Shakespeare, for the time being, be- 
lieved in witchcraft? Do you, while reading, believe in witchcraft? 

6. What do the weird women symbolize ? 7. Can Macbeth blame 
them for his tragic life and death ? 

Banquo. 1. Make a final judgment as to Banquo's moral char- 
acter. 2. What dramatic purpose does he serve in the play? 3. In 
what ways is he ,a contrast to Macbeth? 



GENERAL QUESTIONS ON THE PLAY. 155 

Macduff. 1. Was Macduff guilty of criminal negligence in leav- 
ing his family? 2. Did he sufficiently atone for his fault? 3. What 
dramatic purpose does he serve in the play? 4. Would you pro- 
nounce him, on the whole, a strong man ? 

Plot and Theme. 1. What is the theme of the story? 2. Review 
the steps of the story set forth by the several acts? 3. Is the play 
well balanced ; that is, are the important scenes sufficiently long and 
strong, and are the short ones sufficiently contrasted with them in 
respect to length and strength ? 4. Are there any scenes and char- 
acters that are unnecessary to the story and the dramatic effect? 
That is, is the play a perfect unit? 

The Acting. 1. As it is usually played, there is much sound 
and fury in the acting, particularly in the part of Macbeth. Is this 
right or wrong? 2. Is the play too difficult to be acted with strong 
effect? 3. After the parts of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, what part 
is most desirable for the skillful actor? 4. What scene seems to 
tax the powers of the actors to the greatest degree? 5. Show how 
the poet has gained effect by contrasting one scene against another ? 
6. Is it good taste to use comedy in such a play ? 

The Moral. 1. Show that a strong feeling of morality runs 
throughout the play. 2. Was it Shakespeare's primary purpose to 
point a moral or adorn a tale? 3. Has the play any further moral 
than the same events told in the historical manner would have? 4. 
What is the significance of the fact that although we sympathize 
with Macbeth and his Lady, we have no desire to emulate them? 

Miscellaneous. 1. Do you think the play is one that Shakespeare 
toiled on long and laboriously ? 2. Do you think it possible that 
much of the play was written by some other hand than Shakes- 
peare's? 3. If so, where and how might Shakespeare have revised 
it, had he chosen to do'' so ? 4. In what ways might he change it to 
suit the modern stage if he were now alive? 5. The classic drama 
followed the Unities of Time, Place, and Action. That is, a play- 
wright had to represent such events as could have happened in one 
day (all preceding events being narrated by messengers and by 
a chorus) ; he had to place all the action in one scene ; and he 
might tell but one story, no secondary story being permitted. It was 
Shakespeare's habit to ignore these restrictions ; why ? 6. In this 
play he observed one of these Unities because it suited his purpose 
to do so; which one? 7. If the play should be rewritten in ob- 
servance of the Unities, what scene would be acted and what scenes 
narrated? 8. Would the play gain or lose dramatic force by such 
revision ? 9. What evidences of hasty work are to be found in 
the play? 10. What does the play gain from being placed back in 
the dark, barbarous age of Macbeth? n. How do you account for 
the fact that the best plays, from a literary and dramatic stand- 
point, are tragedies? 12. How do you account for the fact that 
most people usually prefer comedies ? 



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